The Broken Engineer
by M10m gas mask soldier
Summary: Following their escape of Titan Station, Isaac and Ellie find themselves against not only the ever-tightening grip of the corrupted EarthGov but also against an ancient menace that cannot be satisfied until it consumes all traces of humanity in the Universe. Seemingly alone, they must find a way to not only survive but also stop the extinction of the human race. AU post DS2.
1. Chapter 1: Refuge

Title: The Broken Engineer

Origin: Dead Space 2

Type: AU Post Dead Space 2

Genre: Horror/Hurt/Comfort

POV: Isaac Clarke

Ch. 1: Refuge

* * *

A.N.:

Hello to whoever reads this!

I have been meaning to add this story to my growing list. I have been writing for F.E.A.R. for nearly 2 years and BioShock for nearly a year now. However, following Dead Space 3, I was a little disappointed with certain parts of where the series was going. As the third of my childhood favorites behind F.E.A.R. and BioShock, Dead Space has been a real inspiration for me in my hobby of writing.

Anyway,

This story takes place in an Alternate Universe and is post Dead Space 2. While there will be intersections with Dead Space 3, it is not the same universe…I want to go ahead and make that clear to avoid confusion.

I wish to thank the people who take the time to read this in advance and apologize if it is sub par.

* * *

 **Disclaimer** : Dead Space is trademarked by Electronic Arts Inc. All other elements are the property of their respective owners. I claim no ownership nor do I plan to profit from posting this.

* * *

Light flashed before my eyes as I let out an exhale. The burden of intense pain flooded my mind as if to mock me that I was still among the living. What kept this old worn out body of mine alive? Even I did not know the answer to that question. However, as I had accepted long ago, it was best not to question reason if you wanted to survive. Moreover, questioning could easily drive a person mad. I may not have started all of this but I was certain that I would be among those that ended it once and for all. If not, all the sacrifice and lives lost would have been in vain.

My vision finally cleared and the sight that had been burned into my memory greeted my gaze. The scratched surface of the four independent, long, narrow, horizontal viewports of my battle-scarred Advanced Engineer RIG returned my gaze. Through them, I saw the comforting sight of the seemingly invincible titanic planetcracker known as USG _Ishimura_ through the smoke-obscured sky of the besieged Earth. The modified workhorse's worn appearance from countless brushes with utter destruction oddly mirrored my own.

I groaned as I tried to get up. With _Ishimura_ above me, it meant that the next step of the plan could get underway. EarthGov's orbiting blockade had prevented any of the large ships in our massed fleet from getting through to assist those of us on the ground. We needed _Ishimura_ and her gravity tethers for the next step. I was relieved that the giant former CEC-planetcracker had been able to utilize the brutal power of her gravity tethers and sheer size to punch her way through the armada of EarthGov warships and enter Earth's atmosphere. For once, a plan actually seemed to be working. Love her or hate her, old _Ishimura_ had been indispensable for getting this far against the Necromorph hordes of the ever-growing influence of the Brethren Moons and the dying organization called EarthGov.

Intense pain racked my back as I attempted to get up and I was forced to momentarily admit defeat. As I laid back against the ground, I became aware of the eerie silence of the the area around me was. There was no screaming, no discharging of energy or projectile weaponry, or even the telltale cry of a Necromorph. The Necromorph outbreak caused by the last remaining pocket of EarthGov attempting to use Markers as a last-ditch attempt to stave off the inevitable had been a huge obstacle in our plan to destroy the Moons once and for all, but we had come this far and there was no turning back now. Bending my neck, I looked down at my battered form.

I was partially buried in acidic mud, which was curtsey of the near constant drizzle of acid rain that was caused by the heavily polluted atmosphere of Earth. It was not always this way I have been told. Earth was once beautiful or at least so I have been informed. It has always been the hellish nightmare of humanity's own design as long as I have known it however. The "fake" Earth that was artificially created by EarthGov was currently sealed up in the giant dome areas that loomed over the nightmarish landscape of the true Earth.

The palm of my armored left hand was resting on my chest just below the projecting interface of my suit's RIG. The formerly light grey/green skin of my suit had been weathered into a dirty dark brown color. The two parallel rows of reinforcing rectangular copper strips running along my chest and down along the outside of my legs was now missing a few pieces and the remaining were now partially corroded and thus sported greenish exteriors. The equally corroded copper armor tips of my suit's gravity boots with built-in jet propulsion units were visible where they were projecting from the quagmire surrounding me. Ellie had once asked me why I stubbornly insisted upon wearing this suit, which I had found in one of _Ishimura_ 's older stores that had not been updated like the others, even when there were clearly better ones available. I had responded by informing her that this suit had never failed me.

Turning my head to the right, I found my right arm partially sunken in the thick sludge. However, the welcoming sight of my favored tool, the 221-V Plasma Cutter, still tightly gripped by the digits of my right hand met my gaze. My cutter had become less of an improvised weapon and more of an extension of myself over the countless nightmares that I had found myself in. Its chipped, worn exterior was a testament to the countless nightmares that it had taken to get this far.

Relocating my hands back behind me, I made one more attempt to get to my feet. My exertion caused me to sink further into the mud for a moment but then I found solid ground. However, as I started to get up, the muddy form of an EarthGov soldier suddenly appeared before me. The soldier's blue and black uniform, large blue visor in the center of his helmet, his entire helmet, and the tri-barreled pulse rifle in his grasp were all covered with muddy sludge. Moreover, I saw patches of ripped armor and could see places that the man was bleeding heavily.

As he saw me, the man yelled with pure hatred, "Fucking Clarke!"

Before I could get my plasma cutter up to defend myself, the grunt ran forward and then violently stomped into the center of my heavily armored helmet's faceplate with the reinforced sole of his right combat boot. Ringing filled my ears as I was forced back into soupy mix beneath me. The next thing I saw through my daze was the three barrels of the man's pulse rifle. The soldier's rifle made a loud click as its barrels extended out from the weapon as it entered its "fire mode" when he aimed it point blank into the center of my second horizontal viewport.

My hardened mind and body failed to panic or feel any fear as certain death awaited me. However, just before the soldier could execute me, a sudden onslaught of violent motion occurred above me and the man was gone. I heard the man screaming in both fear and agony from somewhere in front of me. I had heard that tone from countless individuals and thus I did not need to look to visually confirm what was happening. Instead, I simply brought my plasma cutter to bear as I simultaneously lifted my head and shoulders up out of the mud to give me a clear shot in front of me.

I was met by the sight of the reanimated corpse of a deceased man dressed in typical blue collar workers attire that had been twisted into a typical "Slasher" Necromorph. I grimaced as I envisioned the fast-approaching "Brethren Moons" that sought to literally consume not only what was left of humanity but also the polluted world that we called home: Earth. It was somewhat ironic that we were not the first form of intelligent life that thought that we had the right to "consume" worlds for our own benefit without thought to the forms of life that we destroyed. The only difference between our two species was that the Moons themselves consumed worlds while we consumed worlds with our technological wonders such as the mighty planetcracker USG _Ishimura_.

We had destroyed several of these Moons, including one over a world called Tau Volantis, with the powerful gravity tethers and "teeth" of the modernized and heavily armored giant planetcracker but now, with the entire Brethren bearing down on Earth, not even _Ishimura_ could destroy them fast enough. Because of this, we were left with only one remaining option to save what little of our species could still be saved. However, as I had learned over the past several years: all solutions had to be implemented one tiny step at a time. The presence of _Ishimura_ herself was perhaps causing the Moons to bear down on Earth with even more brutality. After all, they had felt their brothers being ironically "devoured" by the giant planetcracker just like they had done to countless worlds and species.

The Slasher buried its left railroad spike-like appendage through the center of the blue visor of the screaming soldier's helmet. The man's body instantly went limp and the Slasher turned to face me. The soldier's corpse was still attached to the Necromorph due to the appendage but, as the abomination turned to face me with its insect-like mandibles moving back and forth, the body flew through the air off to the side. The disgusting creature began to charge at me but I was not so easy a mark. With my plasma cutter's tip spread apart so that it now resembled a large "C" clamp and casting its three bright blue aiming beams, I aimed my improvised tool at the Slasher's right spear-like arm and then squeezed the trigger.

A brief but intense bang coupled with an expulsion of ionized gas temporarily overwhelmed my senses but not as much as they once did all those years ago. Almost instantly, the Slasher's limb fell to the saturated ground and the creature recoiled slightly. Taking advantage of the abomination's recoil, I quickly shifted my aim to the other arm. Without even having to think about it, I severed the remaining weaponized limb with equal ease.

The armless Slasher went to make a full-body lung but I rotated my tool's head and then severed its left leg. The creature fell to the soupy ground. There, it looked at me as its mandibles clicked loudly as they moved as if they were devouring flesh. Calmly, I rotated my cutter's head back to its default vertical position, took aim, and then squeezed the trigger. The high-energy cutting beam easily sliced the Slasher's head clean in half. The reanimated corpse finally submitted and collapsed. However, I was not going to fall for another trick. I fired a final blast into the motionless Slasher.

My caution was rewarded when the creature flailed briefly before finally ceasing all movement for the final time. I started to let out a sigh of relief but suddenly the intense report of another Plasma Cutter cut through the air. A large object landed just to my left. Upon investigation I found that it was the slain form of a Leaper Necromorph. Confusion mixed with gratitude filled me briefly until I heard a familiar taunting laugh. I called out in response, "I wasn't in any danger!"

Seconds later, the Advanced Suit clad feminine form of Ellie walked into view before me. The formerly blue helmet had been worn down to a bare steel grey. The suit's once clean and eye-catching exterior had been weathered into a dirty dark grey. However, the bright blue light being emitted from the three "V"-shaped "eyes" of the faceplate was still just as vibrant as ever. Meanwhile, in her right hand, my partner held an equally worn and beaten 221-V Plasma Cutter. The other individuals in the makeshift resistance movement that we had founded preferred actual weapons but Ellie and I both mutually believed firmly in the small handheld industrial tool and its remarkable prowess against both Nercomorphs and human beings.

As Ellie stood over me in her dirtied highly feminine and prototype suit, she teased me, "Why must I keep saving you…nerd?" Before I could reply, she gently pressed the bottom of her right boot into my left shoulder to hold me down. The side of her toned leg was resting against the side of my weathered and partial corroded helmet in a way that was impossible to ignore. Asserting herself over me while lazily bending her head to the right, she continued, "Does the nerd like it when the girl makes him dirty?"

Irritated, I replied, "How is the whole depth perception thing going?"

Removing her foot, Ellie made a series of clicking noises. I tried to get up but a sudden stab of pain erupted in my right side. I mentally cursed as what felt as if a piece of molten, rusted scrap metal was being thrust into my side flared through my already aching body. Ellie's teasing demeanor vanished instantly as she saw the pain that I was in through my body language. With a concerned tone, she said, "I don't have any med packs but an EarthGov gunship crashed just on the other side of the warehouse district. There is bound to be a med pack on-board. It is on the way to the rendezvous point with Carver's team…can…can you make it?"

I laughed in a tired manner as I rocked my head back and forth. Then, I remarked, "I am not a pity case yet, Ellie. This old dog still has some bite left in him."

With a low, sorrowful tone my wife said, "That is not what I meant."

I smiled beneath the cold emotionless faceplate of my helmet before I assured her, "I know…just help me."

Leaning down and offering me her free left hand, she replied, "Of course…" I reached up with my own free left hand and firmly grasped her outstretched hand. Both of us let out grunts of exertion and Ellie nearly fell back onto her posterior as she sank into the quagmire but finally I managed to get to my feet. My knees protested loudly but otherwise I had no difficulty standing on my own.

Ellie feigned injury as she placed the side of her plasma cutter against her left arm. Then, she roughly pocked me in the center of my left pectoral before she remarked with an irritated tone, "Damn it Isaac! This heavy pile of scrap metal you call a RIG belongs in a museum!" After a moment, she calmed down and leaned in. As she did, her helmet began to fold itself up in two sections and retract into her RIG.

Ellie's worn face soon replaced the beaten helmet of her Advanced Suit. Her features had drooped with age but not dramatically. The different color of her right artificial eye's iris was a constant reminder of the nightmare of Titan Station. Beneath both of her eyes were areas of purple that gave her the appearance of an insomniac. A hair-line scar ran at an angle down from the far left corner of her forehead over the bridge of her nose and down to the far corner of right cheek. Her short brown hair was now a salt-and-pepper color though this was due to premature aging.

My own face was just as worn down. However, my favored suit required me to manually remove my entire helmet instead of it being able to fold and unfold itself as if it was a jigsaw puzzle. As I went to take off my helmet, suddenly, we both heard an approaching EarthGov gunship. As her helmet reassembled itself over her head in a dramatic manner, Ellie quickly moved to stand on my right and then put my right arm over her shoulders while simultaneously placing her left arm under my right arm and up on the top of my left shoulder.

As we made our way forward through the smoke and blanket of pollution, Ellie remarked, "So the plan didn't work exactly as we had wanted it to…again…but we've come this far right?"

Fighting through the pain born from both my recent injuries that culminated in regaining consciousness partially buried in Earth's sludge-like polluted surface and my age, I replied, "Well, we aren't dead…so…that's a good start."

 _WE ARE COMING! WE ARE HUNGRY! WE ARE HERE!_

I fought the urge to panic as the Brethren Moon's forced intrusion inside my mind made itself known. Sensing my distress, Ellie asked, "Isaac? What is it?"

I replied, "They're here Ellie! The Moons are here!" Ellie went to cry out in alarm but stopped when we were suddenly temporarily blinded by the searchlight of the EarthGov gunship as it appeared through the smoke above us. Before we could even react, the hovering machine began to open fire upon us. I quickly savored the last time that I would ever feel my wife's touch as I waited for the hail of cannon fire to cut us down.

* * *

Several years earlier

* * *

"What?" Ellie asked with a somewhat amused tone as she noticed my terrified expression.

Feeling rather foolish for having expected to see the apparition of Nichole just as I had when I escaped Aegis VII, I replied, "No-nothing…its nothing." My partner and subsequent rescuer eyed me with a suspicious expression but did not continue questioning me. In an attempt to save face, I said in a humble tone, "Thanks for coming back."

Ellie smiled quickly before rolling her eye and shaking her head as she replied, "You're welcome…nerd." A sharp shooting pain erupted behind my right eye from having the machine's needle penetrating it to access the marker codes. Wincing, I lifted my gloved right hand up and placed my palm over the top of it. Ellie asked with a concerned tone, "What is it?"

The pain was subsiding as quickly as it had manifested so I lowered my hand back down as I replied, "My eye…" I stopped when my companion's expression become stone-faced as she stared at me silently. Realizing my mistake, I quickly explained, "Oh…no…no…the last step…the one that Stross couldn't face…it was…there was this machine that Tiedmann was using to access the marker codes stored in our heads…the last step was 'stick a needle in your eye'."

Ellie's expression softened to a more sympathetic one but she still remarked as she glanced away from me, "At least you still have both of yours."

I started to apologize but something outside the gunship's viewport drew my attention. Upon investigation, I realized that it was the remains of one of The Sprawl's Evacuation Shuttles. Noticing that Ellie had also seen the destroyed emergency transport in my peripheral vision, I asked rhetorically, "That's one of The Sprawl's Shuttles…what happened to it?" The twisted mass of what remained of the shuttle suggested a violent demise but I could not see any possible reasons for its end. That is until moments later when the sight of more than a dozen large EarthGov warships came into view.

Ellie remarked in surprise, "Oh my god…!"

As the bright flashes of the warships' armament began to fly past our gunship, I yelled, "Ellie! Get us out of here!"

As she took manual control over our small ship, she yelled, "Shit! Hold on Isaac!" I was thrown back into the seat as the gunship plummeted straight down and then began to perform a barrel roll. Even with her maneuvering, our ship suddenly jerked violently as one of the warships scored a direct hit on our hull. Alarm bells sounded as smoke began to fill the interior. Looking back behind the seat, I saw a small electrical fire near the back.

As my Advanced Suit's helmet dramatically reassembled itself over my head, I unbuckled myself and grabbed the nearby fire extinguisher. Ignored the painful collisions with the sides of the narrow path to the back, I made my way to the fire. With the limited amount of oxygen inside the pressurized interior of the gunship, the oxygen-consuming fire would easily prove fatal if it was not extinguished quickly. Finally reaching the growing blaze, I removed the locking clip on the fire extinguisher and then started dousing the flames with the dry chemical.

Seconds later, the blaze was extinguished. I let out a sigh of relief that was cut short when I was painfully throw into the left side of the narrow walkway. From the front of the gunship, Ellie called out, "Isaac! We just lost the primary power core! If the backup doesn't kick in, we will be a sitting duck!" Groaning, I pushed away from the side of the walkway. Looking around, I noticed the nearby bright red box-like projection of an electrical panel.

I made my way over to it. As I reached the panel, Ellie called out, "The backup is not activating! We'll be torn to shreds if I can't override it from here!"

As I reached up to the protective cover of the panel, I remarked to myself, "I can probably just rewire it from here."

Ellie asked, "What was that?"

I replied, "Nothing!" I forcibly removed the cover and threw it down to the ground. Then, I bent down low enough so that I could snake my armored left hand up into the access panel. Using nothing other than my sense of touch, I quickly bypassed the primary power core and wired the backup directly into the main line. My impromptu repair succeeded in restoring power to the gunship and we continued to evade the intense fire from the warships.

As I made my way back to the front, Ellie said, "I did it! I got the backup working!" I kept my actions to myself and merely sat back down in the seat next to my partner. She smiled at me before she said, "Good work on that fire."

I shrugged as I replied, "Glad I could do something."

The former CEC heavy equipment pilot said, "Without the primary power core, we cannot shock out of here and the backup will not last very long. So…I guess this is it…unless you have any more bad ideas."

I thought quickly. There was only one place that was close and out of the line of fire. I replied, "Go back to The Sprawl!" Ellie stared at me as if I had lost my mind. I explained, "There…there might be something in the debris field that we can use for cover."

She looked at me for a moment and then remarked, "I said bad idea not suicidal."

I replied, "Do you have a better idea?"

After a brief stare contest, Ellie finally gave in and steered the gunship back towards the nightmare that we had just barely escaped from. The EarthGov blockade was understandably hesitant about following us into the debris field but it would only be a matter of time until they sent in gunships to make sure of our demise. We had to find refuge and we needed to find it with much haste. For what seemed like hours, we moved through the large debris field that was filled with organic sludge from the dematerialized Necromorphs, human bodies, pieces of buildings, and what was left of Titan. I began to question my original idea as we lazily drifted through the debris to conserve power. All hope seemed lost as everything that we passed was nothing more than twisted scrap.

However, just as it seemed that this was indeed the end of our story, we came out from underneath a large piece of building and we saw her. There, floating amongst the human loss and the debris of the death of a civilization as if she was a silent witness of humanity's ultimate destruction that refused to meet her end, was the "Savior of Humanity" USG _Ishimura_. Though her hull was silent and dark, the running lights refused to be extinguished as long as her reserve power was still available. As we neared her, the giant letters spelling out her name along her hull suddenly lit up as if she was welcoming us and gesturing for us to take refuge inside of her giant interior.

A shiver went up my spine and primal fear filled my mind as flashes of buried memories played before my mind's eye. Death just a breath away, monsters come to life, rotting bodies everywhere, nothing but the little handheld Plasma Cutter for comfort in the cold and in the dark, hallucinations making me question everything I saw, heard, and did, and then betrayal not only by the very person that I cherished more than life itself but also the only teammate that I thought I could trust. I wanted to scream but nothing came out. No one could hear your screams in space. No one was coming for us. There was only _Ishimura_ and her valiant fight against her traitorous crew. She had been heavily damaged but my ease in repairing her systems back to working order had proven that she could yet be saved. When the tectonic load crashed back down onto Aegis VII, it seemed that the resulting devastation had claimed the old workhorse.

However, _Ishimura_ had clung to life by a thread following the destruction of Aegis VII. Perhaps, it was not a coincidence that she had just so happened to be at Titan Station at just the right time to assist me despite that fact that she should had rightfully met her end above that cursed dead planet. She was a relic. She had every right to give into the forces of time. Instead, now, like me, she had survived two nightmares and still had life left in her. Perhaps, it was not coincidence that she was once again one of the only survivors of something that should have been her end.

Ellie said, "That…that isn't possible…right?"

Torn back to reality, I said plainly, "Go aboard her."

My partner asked me, "Are you sure?"

I looked her dead in her eye and replied, "Yes. She is our only hope to get out of this alive."

Ellie gave me a strange look before she asked, "You survived whatever it was that happened to her…so…you know her…well?"

I assured her, "Give me a few hours…I can have her operational."

Ellie nodded and then guided our gunship into her uncomfortably familiar Main Hanger Bay. As if to further unnerve me, my partner happened to dock in the exact same slot that USG _Kellion_ had crashed. The lights inside the hanger were offline so only the lights of our gunship were illuminating the vast space. The access point of the cleanup teams in the far right bulkhead was gone and the resulting hole in the ship had rendered the hanger a vacuum space.

However, from my experiences during my earlier visit, I was certain that once we had entered the Arrival/Departure Lounge we would exit the vacuum. Given her immense size, _Ishimura_ surely had enough oxygen for us to survive long enough for the EarthGov ships to give up their pursuit. Given the planetcracker's appearance, the armada might even let the ship float past them without a second thought. With our gunship running on fumes, this slumbering giant was our only hope. I had put this ship back together once and I could do it again.

After Ellie had found an EVA Suit, we exited the small ship and entered the hanger bay. I kept my hastily crafted plasma cutter at the ready as we made our way to the entrance of the lobby at the far end of the ramp. All around us, there was nothing but eerie silence. The letters spelling out the ship's name that were mounted to the side of the mountain-sized bulkhead before us failed to illuminate as if they were the ghostly echo of the planetcracker's former glory.

Despite the ship's reserve power still flowing through her, the airtight door that allowed access to the lobby was dark. Even the mocking red circle that was burned into my memory was absent. Irritated, I slammed the side of my gloved left fist into the thick door. Unnervingly, as if _Ishimura_ had been playing a cruel joke on me for abandoning her after I had used her for her gravity tethers, the door opened. After exchanging a nervous glance, we entered the dark and silent Arrival/Departure Lobby.

As we reached the seats in the center of the room, the door to the hanger suddenly slammed shut. Just as I had suspected, we were back in a regular atmosphere once the airtight door had sealed shut. I should have known better than to expect a quiet welcome however. The door had no sooner slammed shut than the bright overhead light fixtures powered to life. However, that was not the only welcome that _Ishimura_ had for one of her returning crew members that was desperate for her to show pity upon him and his plight.

The ghostly voice of a woman that vaguely sounded like Nichole began to sing in a creepy tone through the ship's intercom system,

 _Twinkle, twinkle, little star,_

 _How I wonder what you are!_

 _Up above the world so high,_

 _Like a diamond in the sky!_

 _When the blazing sun is gone,_

 _When the nothing shines upon,_

 _Then you show your little light,_

 _Twinkle, twinkle, all the night._ "

The woman continued with the same eerie tone but now with more emphasis on certain parts,

 _Then **the traveler in the dark** , _

_Thanks you for your little spark,_

 _ **He could not see which way to go** , _

_**If you did not twinkle so**._ "

The ghostly voice finished without any emphasis,

 _When the blazing sun is gone,_

 _When the nothing shines upon,_

 _Though I know not what you are,_

 _Twinkle, twinkle, little star._ "


	2. Chapter 2: Trust and faith

Ch. 2: Trust and faith

A.N.:

Hey everyone!

Sorry it took so long for me to update. I did manage to get a copy of the original Dead Space in the meantime.

Anyway,

I hope everyone is at least finding some entertainment in my story so far. I apologize for the lack of action in this chapter. I am getting to the action. Please be patient.

Read and review if you want

* * *

To say that the warm welcome of the _Ishimura_ was unnerving was an understatement. Having survived not one but two previous visits to the seemingly cursed mining ship, I should have become accustomed to or at least expected for something like that to happen. Glancing around the now silent room, Ellie commented, "That was…odd."

While I did agree with her statement, I did not want to add to the already uneasy atmosphere of the ghost ship. The still-present decontamination tarps and equipment covered the truth from people like Ellie. However, even in its partially cleaned-up state, the _Ishimura_ still retained the creepy atmosphere that I had become so intimate with during those hellish hours above Aegis VII. With my voice muffled by my suit's helmet, I replied, "Just a ship...come on, we need to get to the bridge."

With my makeshift Plasma Cutter at the ready, I moved forward towards the door to the Maintenance Area. As I passed the pair of opposite-facing white tarp-covered benches in the center of the flight lounge, Ellie asked, "Isn't the tram that way?"

Without looking back at my partner, I explained, "She is running on Reserve Power and the majority of the Tram System is damaged. There is another way to get to the bridge through the Maintenance Area." Without verbally acknowledging me, Ellie began to follow me. As if my body was running on autopilot, I found myself eying the two overhead ventilation shafts. It was unlikely that any Necromorphs were onboard. However, there were some habits that would never fade with time or become dormant. After all, what felt to me like only hours earlier, though in reality it had been years, my ordeal had started in this very room and through those very vents.

Inside my mind, I heard a loud crash. Then Chen and Johnston screaming in agony as they were brutally cut down by a nightmarish creature that appeared to be a horribly mutated man. Hammond fired his Pulse Rifle at the unknown assailant as Kendra struggled to get the door open. I could only watch helplessly from the terminal as this nightmare unfolded. Finally, my team was able to retreat through the door that Kendra had managed to get unlocked. Hearing another crash, I looked to my right. There, I saw another one of the horrifying creatures that looked undeniably like a former crew member as it crawled out of the ventilation shaft along the far wall. Kendra screamed at me to run but I was already sprinting down the only available avenue of escape. I did not know where I was going but anywhere was better than there with those creatures.

I shook my head to clear the memories of my arrival from my mind. Forcing myself to continue forward, I quickly reached the door to the Maintenance Area. Luckily, the door was still receiving power and was also still unlocked. As I opened the door with my RIG, Ellie asked with her British-accented voice slightly muffled by her EVA Suit's helmet, "You said that you were here when everyone was killed. What happened?"

Flashes of memory appeared before my mind's eye like a movie as I was forced to relive the events above Aegis VII in an instant. Wanting to keep the past buried as deep as I could get it inside my memories, I replied, "Ellie…I…"

However, she interrupted me by saying, "How are we going to be able to trust each other if you won't even answer my questions about your past? You could at least tell me why you were here when it happened. Did you work here?"

We had moved through the door and now stood at the beginning of the short L-shaped path that was once visible from the waiting room because of the series of clear glass panels that formed a dividing wall between the Waiting Room and the path to the Maintenance Area. However, the tarps now covered all but a small section of broken glass in the first segment of the dividing wall. I mentally sighed. Ellie was right. How could she trust me if I continued to hide things from her?

I turned around and then looked at the battered young woman with whom I had spent the last few hours defying death many times over. She returned it in complete silence as her EVA Suit's glowing blue "eye" bored into me. I explained, "No, I did not work here. Contact was lost with the _Ishimura_ while she was in orbit above Aegis VII. Then, CEC detected the _Ishimura_ 's distress signal. CEC asked for volunteers for a repair mission. I signed up as the team's ship systems engineer."

Ellie looked down to the right as she shook her helmeted head for a moment. Then, she looked at me once again as she asked with disbelief in her charmingly accented voice, "Why? Aegis VII was restricted space. You don't strike me as the kind of person who enjoys dangerous assignments."

I replied, "I had a personal reason. There was someone on _Ishimura_ that I was close to."

Nicole's beautiful smiling face flashed before my mind's eye. I prayed that Ellie would not ask who it was that I had gone to _Ishimura_ for. While I had just made peace with her death and my own guilt about her demise, I was not ready to tell my partner about her. I breathed a silent sigh of relief when Ellie was satisfied by my explanation.

As I walked towards the uncomfortably familiar terminal at the other end of the path with the boots of my sleek Advanced Suit making a slightly different sound than the metal thud from my nightmares with every step, I continued, "Ship was dark when we found her. She still had power but it was clear that she was in a bad way. Her engines were offline, her orbit was decaying, and most of her running lights were offline. However, it did not appear that there was any danger and that we could still quickly repair her and then be on our way. We hailed her, but only got a garbled response. We knew to expect that her communication array needed repairs so that did not strike us as odd. Tried to dock inside the Flight Deck but we got hit by a piece of the debris field surrounding the ship as a result of the planet crack. We crashed instead."

By then, I had reached the terminal. The large orange tube on the ground that ran from the white tarp and red tape-covered wall to my left to the other end of the path on my right was crushed beneath my right foot as I stood before the dark diagnostic report terminal. Placing my gloved left hand on the edge of the upper left corner of the dark flat pad, I said out loud, "Come on _Ishimura_ …talk to me, sweetie. I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong."

Ellie commented, "You tell me that it is just a ship but then talk to it…you are a strange man Isaac."

Continuing to hold the corner of the terminal, I replied, "Engineering thing. It helps to talk to the machine."

Somewhat teasingly, she asked, "Does it?"

As if in response to my partner's inquiry, the terminally suddenly flickered to life. I removed my hand as the bright blue projection with "Diagnostic Report" at the top, the CEC logo in the center, and "Scan" at the bottom appeared. As I activated the scan program, I remarked, "These power fluctuations are a good sign at least. She must not be brain dead if she can still reroute the Reserve Power as it is needed."

While the terminal compiled the report, Ellie asked in confusion, "What do you mean?"

I explained, "There are bio-scanners on each deck. _Ishimura_ 's automated systems must have detected us on this deck and she has been rerouting power to the deck with 'crew members' on it since our arrival."

Seconds later, the automated female voice announced as the terminal changed to show a small model of the ship with various points where damage was detected with notes attached to describe the issue, "Gravity and Life Support on Reserve Power. Primary Systems offline. Tram System offline. Hull breach detected in Main Hanger Bay."

Before I could decide how to best proceed, a sudden loud crash from the Waiting Room shattered the silence. With my makeshift Plasma Cutter at the ready, I quickly turned to aim down the path towards the familiar vent on the far wall. My exhausted body suddenly felt lightweight and energetic as adrenaline flooded my system in anticipation of the coming Necromorph horde. The three blue aiming beams of the surgical tissue cutter pierced the darkness as I waited for them to crawl out of the vent.

Meanwhile, Ellie had her own Plasma Cutter, a genuine 211-V model, aimed towards the vent as well. We waited silently as our ears strained to detect even the softest noise. After nearly a minute, there was nothing. Necromorphs could be tricky and even coordinate ambushes but they had never attempted to be stealthy. They relied upon brutal action and had never, in my experience, deviated from full frontal assault and swarming tactics. Surely if what we had heard had been one of the creatures, it would have found a way to get to us by now.

Confident that the danger had passed, I lowered my weapon back down to my side. Ellie did the same as she said, "Must have been one of pieces of decontamination equipment." I nearly placed my left palm against the three V-shaped eyes of my Advanced Suit's helmet as I remembered the unidentified sounds that had plagued _Ishimura_ during my original visit. These mysterious sounds had usually taken the forms of a distant tool hitting the floor and the aging ship itself giving off a loud groan. However, sometimes, they were more disturbing as they took the forms of people talking, Nicole calling out my name, and a man that either growled or muttered something in a hushed tone.

While I had been driven to believe that these noises were actually the telltale signs of my Marker-induced dementia, now I realized that perhaps the old mining vessel had been the source. After all, she was sixty years old. It was understandable that the workhorse was showing signs of her age through these noises. Regardless, as long as the noises were not caused by Necromorphs, I did not care. I had destroyed the Marker that I had created but I was not going to take any chances. We would have to stay on our guard.

Ellie turned and looked at me. When I met her gaze, she asked, "So, what happens now? With Life Support on Reserve Power and with EarthGov's soldiers coming to find us, I guess this is it then?"

I reassured her, "Hey, we are still alive aren't we? All we have to do is restore the ship's Primary Power. If we do that, the Primary Systems will be restarted and Life Support will be restored."

She asked, "How do we do that?"

Walking towards the nearby door that allowed access to the all too familiar hallway that led to the cargo elevator, I explained, "The engines are offline. If we can get them restarted, the ship's generators will restart and begin supplying the ship."

Following behind me, Ellie asked, "What makes you think there is fuel in the tank?"

I sighed and then replied, "Come on, Ellie. You know that it is standard practice to routinely allow an engine to run if only for a short period of time so that it can turn over."

She said in response, "Right…"

Opening the door, I said, "Let's get to Engineering before the Reserve Power runs out." The door opened to reveal the dimly lit hallway that was almost entirely covered by white tarps and red tape. The ladder and generators were still where they had been the last time that I had proceeded down the hallway. The bright light that had been left by the decontamination crew on the right side of the hallway just before the blind left turn was still flickering. However, the large dual work light at the end of the hallway that had been illuminating the wall, which had been in the process of being steamed, now failed to produce any light.

Sighing, I powered on my makeshift weapon's flashlight as I aimed my Plasma Cutter down the hallway. With my own source of light illuminating the hallway, I started to make my way to the left turn. In order to keep my own nerves in check as miscellaneous noises continued to haunt the otherwise eerily silent ghost ship, I continued, "We soon discovered that the _Ishimura_ had been seemingly abandoned by her crew. However, with our ship's port booster destroyed, we continued with the mission to repair the ship. We entered the Flight Lounge and I ran the diagnostic on the ship."

By then, we had reached the turn. Turning to the left, I saw the slight descent to the next level of the hallway as it disappeared beyond another blind turn, this one to the right, at the bottom of the ramp. Beyond the ramp, I saw the large blood stain at the base of the wall-mounted vent that had been covered by a white tarp. A thick round tube ran down the ramp and connect to the steam generator that was on the floor just to the right of the blood stain.

Since the work lights were no longer functioning, I continued to use my weapon's flashlight to illuminate the path. Walking down the ramp, I continued, "After I ran the diagnostic, we found that the ship was in even worse shape than she is now. However, before we could leave the Flight Lounge, the ship's automated quarantine system activated. Then, some kind of creature entered through the vents. Before we knew what was happening, two of us were killed. That just left our Senior Security Officer, Hammond, our Computer Specialist, Kendra, and me. Hammond and Kendra escaped through the door in the Flight Lounge that led to the Tram Station. I escaped down this hallway as a Necromorph chased me."

Turning right, I led the way past the open storage room and to the nearby second right turn. As I moved towards the door at the end of the hallway, I continued, "After we reestablished contact with each other, we decided to continue the repair mission despite the creatures. I repaired the Tram System so that Kendra and Hammond could get to the bridge. However, when I went back to our ship, I was attacked by the Necromorphs. They destroyed our ship and means of escape. For the next few hours, we repaired the _Ishimura_ back to being functional though the Necromorphs and a crazed Unitologist tried to stop us."

Opening the door, I found the cargo elevator that had been my salvation during that initial welcome to _Ishimura_. It was nestled between a large white tarp that took up the entirety of the surrounding platform save for the upper left and right corner where multiple steam, electrical, and water tubes had been placed to run down to the lower level to feed the equipment down there. To the right along the wall just before the elevator, there was a large, partially cleaned-up blood stain along a portion of the wall that had not been covered by a tarp.

I moved towards the elevator with my flashlight still being the only source of illumination other than the faint light being projected from my helmet's visor. Upon reaching the two sliding doors of the cargo elevator, I found that the lift was offline. I was momentarily discouraged until, seconds later, the holographic indicator turned blue as _Ishimura_ 's systems rerouted power to the elevator. I opened the doors and entered the bare skeletal steel elevator. Once Ellie had joined me, I pressed the "down" button on the interface with my RIG. The elevator's door slammed shut and the lift began to descend.

As we traveled down through the darkness, I continued, "Eventually, I found out that the CEC Mining Facility had uncovered an artifact on Aegis VII known as the Red Marker. Unitologists believed that it was proof of their beliefs and had secretly worked with the _Ishimura_ 's captain, a devout follower, in assuring that the ship's crew was largely comprised of followers and sent the ship out to retrieve the artifact as covert mission in addition to the ship's mission to harvest the precious mineral-rich planet of Aegis VII."

The elevator arrived at the lower level. The doors opened to reveal the dark, eerie maintenance room. The largely untouched room only had a few tarps and, looking towards the far left corner, I saw that the old work table where I had found my Plasma Cutter and the sign above it that had the bloody message of "Cut off their limbs" were still in place.

Leading the way towards the door directly across from the elevator, I continued, "I was informed that the Marker was in the ship's cargo hold and that if we returned it to the pedestal on the planet, the Necromorphs would be contained. I repaired an executive shuttle, though it cost the life of Hammond, and located the Marker inside the hold. I loaded it into the shuttle and then went to take the Marker to the planet. It was then that Kendra betrayed me and revealed herself to be a government agent sent to retrieve the Marker."

After opening the door and proceeding with my flashlight illuminating the dark, tarp-covered hallway, I continued, "Kendra abandoned me here after explaining that the Marker found on Aegis VII was, in fact, man-made and had been reverse engineered from a true alien artifact discovered on Earth hundreds of years ago known as the Black Marker. The experiment on the planet had gone horribly wrong and the system was quarantined. Later, CEC found it by accident while surveying the planet because of its rich deposits of precious minerals. Unitologists set the whole thing nightmare into motion…first on the colony and then finally in the _Ishimura_ because they believed that the Marker was divine. EarthGov wanted the Marker for themselves and sent Kendra to retrieve it for them."

Making my way through the winding path, I explained, "I used the shuttle's remote recall in the control room in the Main Hanger Bay to bring the shuttle back. Kendra escaped to the planet through the escape pod. I piloted the shuttle down to the colony and returned the Marker to its pedestal. For a moment, it seemed to contain the infection. Then Kendra showed up and revealed that I had been tricked by the Marker itself to return it to its pedestal on the planet so that it could begin a Convergence Event. The Marker's Convergence Event had damaged the gravity tethers holding the tectonic load above the planet in place. Kendra left me to die as she took the Marker to the shuttle. I caught up to her just in time to see her get killed by the Hive Mind that was controlling the Necromorphs. Killed the Hive Mind and escaped the planet in the shuttle just in time."

By then, we had reached the door that allowed access to the Tram Control Room. Once again, it took a moment before the ship's systems were able to reroute the available power to the door. Opening it, I found the now completely powerless control room that had the control panels for the offline Tram System. Through the cracked windows, I could see the Tram Station where Kendra and Hammond had once stood. I walked over to the nearest window. Then, looking through its cracked surface where I could see the reflection of my Advanced Suit's unique visor, I finished, "Tiedmann's agents found me in the shuttle not far from the space around Aegis VII. Next thing I knew, I was being awakened by a man inside my cell on Titan Station just before he was killed and turned into a Necromorph. Escaped from the facility, made my way to someone that helped me escape, was then betrayed by said person who was really a Unitologist that wanted me to make Markers for them, escaped when an EarthGov gunship attacked us, wandered for about an hour trying to make my way to the Government Sector, eventually walked one giant circle, and that's when I found you."

I could see the bright light of the visor of Ellie's EVA Suit behind me in the reflection in the window as she said, "And now your back here where it all started."

After sighing, I replied, "Yeah…one big fucking circle."

She said softly, "You think you're the only one?"

I assured her, "No, of course not. That's not what I meant."

She assured me in turn, "I know…and I'm sorry that happened to you…but, just remember that you aren't the only one."

I turned and looked at her before I replied, "I know, Ellie."

After nodding her head for a moment, she asked with a soft tone, "Did you find the person that you came here for?"

* * *

 _Isaac, it's me. I wish I could talk to you. I'm sorry. I'm sorry about everything. I wish I could talk to someone...it's all falling apart here; I just cannot believe what's happening._ _It's strange…such a little thing. In the end, it all comes down to just one little thing..._

 _I didn't want it to end like this. I really wanted to see you again...just once. I love you. I always loved you._

* * *

Shaking my head, I replied with a flat tone, "No." Then, I started walking towards the door at the other end of the control room. Sharing my story with Ellie, however vague the details had been, at least for the time being had lifted a weight off my shoulders. As far as I knew, I was the only survivor of the Aegis VII Incident and now one of only two survivors of the Titan Station Incident. Perhaps, there was a reason why I had survived when countless others had not. Perhaps not. Either way, it would have been in vain if I could not get the Primary Power restored in time.

As I opened the door to reveal the tarp-covered walls of the short path to a second door that had not been there during my original visit, I asked, "So…what about you?"

Following behind me, Ellie explained with her British accented voice, "Well, not much to tell really. Decent family…good friends…teenage heartbreak and joy…found a passion for operating big machines…got certified...hired by CEC soon afterwards…eventually wound up on Titan Station. I know that you found those logs left by my crew so there isn't much point in telling you about them."

Opening the door with my RIG, I was met by the nearly unrecognizable hallway that had the offline automatic cargo track running down the center of the floor. Revealed by the flashlight of my makeshift weapon, nearly the entire passageway had been covered by tarps, decontamination equipment, and work lights. Moving towards the ramp on the right, I said apologetically, "I'm sorry, Ellie."

Confused, she asked, "About what?"

Descending the ramp, I explained, "I thought I had destroyed the Red Marker and ended it, but because I survived, all I did was spread the nightmare to the rest of the Universe. What happened on Titan Station was because of me. From what I learned in Government Sector, it seems that EarthGov has other Markers in facilities in the entire Universe."

I heard Ellie's footsteps fall silent and turned around. I saw her a few steps behind me. She was looking at me in complete silence. I lowered my Plasma Cutter so that only her booted feet were visible as I waited for her to say something. Finally, she asked, "So, what happened on Titan will happen again?"

I sighed and then replied, "Yes. EarthGov thinks that they can control the Markers and use them as sources of limitless energy…eliminate the need for ships like _Ishimura_ …save humanity from itself…but they are wrong, Ellie. Don't believe anything that they say. They don't know what they are dealing with. The Markers are not what they appear."

I saw her cock her head to the right for a moment as she asked, "What do you mean? I am getting the impression that these Markers aren't just fancy rocks that glow and make monsters."

Turning to look back down the ramp, I replied, "I'll explain later. Let's get the engines started so that we have power. After that, we can assess the systems to see what needs fixing."

From behind me, I heard her say, "Right behind you."

After a short walk through the eerily silent Tram System tunnel, part of which had been filled by a plastic-walled tunnel by the clean-up crew, we reached the base of the Engineering Deck Station. I audibly cursed when I saw the powerless lift that I had hacked in my previous trip to get to the station above us. Realizing what I had to do to get the lift working again, I walked over to the access panel that I had hacked earlier. After tearing off the tissue laser of my Plasma Cutter, I wired the flashlight into the lift's power supply. It would drain the flashlight completely but the cell would power the lift long enough for us to use it to get to the station.

Leaving the useless flashlight in the exposed access panel, I joined Ellie on the descended lift's platform. Ellie was using the built-in flashlight of her 211-V Plasma Cutter to illuminate the platform for me. As I stood next to her, she commented, "You are really good with machines." I shrugged as I used my RIG to activate the lift.

As it ascended, I informed her, "I get it from my father."

My partner was silent for a moment before she asked, "Wait a second…Tiedmann called you Clarke…your father wouldn't happened to be Poul Clarke the renowned ship builder…would he?"

The lift arrived at the station. Stepping out onto the familiar steel platform with the glass-enclosed waiting area dominating the right side and the entrance to the deck on the left, I replied, "I only know my father by name. Never saw him growing up except when I was four and I don't remember most of that. He disappeared…a long time ago. I don't even know if he is still alive. EarthGov has denied my requests for information about him and I haven't spoken to my mother in years."

Walking beside me to illuminate the dark station for me, Ellie asked, "Why not?"

Standing before the powerless door that allowed access to the deck itself while I waited for _Ishimura_ to reroute the power, I explained, "My mother gave all of my father's assets to the Unitologists so that she could become a high-ranking member. I didn't get any of it. I didn't even have enough to attend the prestigious University that had invited me due to my test scores. I had to attend a lesser institution to become a Ship Systems Engineer. The only reason I got anywhere was because I was so gifted with machines and devising original solutions to complicated problems that people took notice and stuck their necks out for me. Otherwise, the only good my schooling would have been would be to wipe my ass with it."

Electrical humming filled the air as a holographic blue circle appeared in the center of the door. I opened it and began to make me way through the tight path to the Control Room for the deck. As we walked beside each other, Ellie said sympathetically, "Maybe you should go a little easy on your mother. I mean, losing a husband is hard to cope with. I don't think she did it to spite you."

I replied with a bitter tone, "She didn't think about her own son's future…only thought about herself."

We had reached the control room with the large circular area in the center had had the control panels for the various systems and a holographic projector that had once indicated the ship's orbit around Aegis VII. To the left was the elevator that went down to the Gravity Centrifuge. To the right was the store and beyond it was the tarp-covered door that allowed access to the dark section of the deck that had the fuel pump stations. To the left of the circular area was the door that led to the ship's Engine Room and the airtight entrance to Fuel Storage.

After we had been standing in the center of the Control Room for a moment, the lights flickered to life as well as the control panels and holographic projector. Pushing aside the forest of work lights in the center of the circular area, I sat down the in the bloody left seat in front of the control panels. Raising my hands up to the control panels, I began to check the status of the various systems. However, as I went through the reports, my worst fears were confirmed.

I remarked, "Shit…that's what I was afraid of."

Moving to stand directly behind me, Ellie asked, "What? No fuel?"

Ignoring the irritating feeling of having someone looking over my right shoulder, I replied, "No. The tank is a quarter full...fucking of course it is, which is enough to fuel the ship for nearly a month. The problem is that the ship's Reserve Power is only at one percent capacity. The clean-up crew must have been running the ship off of the power from Titan Station so _Ishimura_ never got the chance to refill her own battery banks. I drained most of what the ship had when I used the Gravity Tethers."

Ellie asked with a worried tone, "So, the ship doesn't have enough power to turn over its engines?"

I sighed before I replied, "Well, she does…but…"

Ellie questioned, "But what?"

I explained, "We have to divert all the power left in _Ishimura_ 's Reserve Power to allow one chance for the engines to turn over. If they don't fire, then the ship will be completely out of power and we will suffocate before we can make it back to the gunship."

My partner remarked, "Even if the engines fire, it will take a moment for the generators to get the Life Support turned back on."

I assured her, "Yes, but it should be in about a minute. The power lines are likely damaged and it will take the ship's automated systems a few seconds to bypass the damaged sections, but it should still be only about a minute before Life Support is back on. The Computer Core has its own backup so it will not go offline in the minute it will take for the Primary Power to be restored."

Ellie remarked with a worried tone, "That's…a pretty big risk…entrusting our lives to this sixty year old ship and its engines."

She was right, of course. The engines and systems had been in remarkable condition considering their age when I had fixed them three years ago. However, since miraculously surviving the Aegis VII Incident, she had been adrift in space for an unknown amount of time before being discovered and taken to Titan Station. The control panels indicated that the massive engines were in operational condition and the fuel sensors indicated that the pumps were in working order. However, we would only get one shot at starting the engines.

If they misfired or if the generators were not in operational condition, then we would certainly die inside the dead ship. If we tried to use the gunship to escape, we would die. It was certain death versus possible death. I had faith in _Ishimura_. Despite her age, she had been built to last much longer. After all, the human race had been nearly extinct from lack of resources when they built her. We had put everything into this one mighty ship so that she could be our salvation. When she succeeded in her first planet crack and brought back metric tons of resources, the entire human race welcomed her into their hearts with open arms as they proclaimed her "The Savior of Humanity".

Now, she had come full circle. Once again, she was needed to save humanity. EarthGov would doom the human race to extinction playing with the Markers unless we could stop them. To that end, perhaps there was indeed a reason why I had lucky enough to survive when others had not. However, before all of that, the first step was to get the engines started. I looked away from the control panels and examined Ellie's EVA Suit. The flimsy suit with its loose-fitting skin was hardly suited to the hazardous conditions of the Engineering Deck.

Noticing that I was examining her, Ellie asked, "Do you like what you see?"

Undaunted, I replied, "No. That suit isn't meant to be in anything other than a Level One Environment. You need a suit that is at least able to withstand a Level Two…" I trailed off as I noticed that the Store was not projecting the image of Titan Station. Instead, it was projecting a flickering image of _Ishimura_.

Acting somewhat put off by my comment, Ellie asked with an annoyed tone, "What now?"

I glanced down at the suit that I was wearing. The Advanced Suit was indeed flashy and futuristic compared to what I was accustomed to wearing. Moreover, despite its advanced construction, I had found that it had not proven itself to be a replacement for another suit that I had become attached to during my time on _Ishimura_. With the connection to Titan Station gone, the ship's store must have defaulted to the ship's inventory. That meant that it would have what I was looking for and would also likely have a real Schofield Tools 211-V Plasma Cutter.

I looked back at my partner and then remarked, "You can have my suit."

Ellie replied, "What about you?"

I explained, "Don't worry, I've got that covered." Then, I informed her, "Now, this suit is skintight so you are going to have to take off everything except your underwear." Despite her EVA Suit's helmet preventing me from seeing her face, I could feel the dagger that her eye gave me. I sighed before I said, "Come on, Ellie. This is not the time to act like a child. There is no one else here except me and we are both adults. We do not have much time so just undress so we can get this over with."

Reaching up to remove her suit's helmet, Ellie remarked, "Fine…" As she removed her EVA Suit and civilian clothing, I removed my Advanced Suit and RIG. However, to my shock, when I removed my suit, I found that I was not wearing any underwear. It took me a moment to remember that I had been in a straightjacket and part of the safety protocols for the program was that we were not issued underwear of any kind due to the fear that we would asphyxiate ourselves or others using the elastic bands. It was overkill due to the fact that we were restrained in straightjackets and also in drug-induced dazes but Tiedmann was not going to leave anything to chance.

"Oh God, Isaac, what happened to your neck?" I glanced up to see Ellie looking at me with a concerned expression on her dirtied but still attractive face.

I reached up to my neck with my bare right hand and felt the impressions of where my Patient Suit's Intravenous Lines had been driven into my body in multiple places in the shape of a large circle. Lowering my hand, I explained with a flat tone, "It's nothing…just where they had the lines to inject drugs into us." I placed my RIG back on my bare frame and, after collecting the Advanced Suit from the ground, I stood and walked over to my partner.

Despite my desire to look at her wounded but still beautiful, toned, and tanned frame that admittedly possessed more physical strength and femininity than what Nicole had, I handed her the suit before walking over to the Store. The feeling of air on my bare skin was uncomfortably foreign to me as I had become accustomed to the reassuring feeling of being in a self-contained pressured suit. Moreover, the odor of cleaning agents and sterile air was almost enough to make me nauseous as it instantly reminded me of the facility that I had been locked up like an animal in for the last three years.

Upon arriving at the Store, I logged in using my RIG. The automated female voice announced, "Welcome back to the USG _Ishimura_ , CEC Engineer Isaac Clarke. Last log in date: 2508. Error: Unable to download current status. Current RIG incompatible with on-board Store. Item…Advanced Suit…not identified and no schematics detected in RIG inventory. Altering RIG to last known loadout." The Store's shutters opened for me to enter and receive the last loadout that I had logged out with nearly three years prior when I had visited the Store on the Flight Deck just before departing for the colony. I entered the Store's interior and turned around. I got a quick sight of the attractive rear contours of Ellie's partially Advanced Suit-clad body as she had her back to me before my limbs were restrained and the shutters closed.

A bright light overwhelmed my eyes and I was forced to close them. Seconds later when I was able to open them, I saw the indescribably satisfying sight of my body being clad in the heavily armored Advanced Engineering Suit through the four reinforced viewing slits of the heavy copper one-piece helmet.

More like a suit of combat armor, the Advanced Engineering Suit was the pinnacle of protection and the very best that any Engineer could wear. Its signature ribbed copper armor covered both legs and both arms as well as the entirety of the back and front of the wearer's torso. The wearer's knuckles were also protected by a copper knuckle guard. The thick copper helmet that surrounded the wearer's head was complete with the complex design of the visor, which comprised of four slits, though a noticeable vertical beam of light was formed down the center of the visor and functioned as the "fifth" line that indicated that it was a Level 5 Suit.

Compared to the Advanced Suit that now completely covered Ellie's frame in a very revealing skintight manner, the Advanced Engineering Suit was a robust low-tech brute. The only modern aspect of this suit as the underlying black skin that was self-sealing in case something pierced the copper armor. Being pressurized, it also carried a built-in oxygen supply for EVA assignments or in case of extremely toxic environments.

As I stepped out of the Store, the dull heavy thud of my heavy gravity boots filled the air. Though I had never used them, my gravity boots also had built-in thrusters just like the Advanced Suit. During my original visit three years prior, I had not used my suit's thrusters due to the confined space and fear of drifting too far away from the relative sanctuary of the mining ship. Feeling the familiar object in my right hand, I looked down and smiled beneath my copper façade at the 211-V Plasma Cutter in my grasp. I had lost the one that I had found on the bloody workbench during my escape from the colony so _Ishimura_ had given me a stock replacement.

Hearing the Advanced Suit's helmet assembling itself like a jigsaw puzzle, I looked over at Ellie. The skintight suit now accentuated her every feature, giving the uniform a very feminine appearance. As she cupped her breasts and then traced the contours of her flat stomach with her gloved hands, Ellie commented, "This feels…odd." Then, looking at me through her suit's three intimidating V-shaped bright blue eyes, she asked, "You are going to choose that dinosaur over this?"

Before I could reply, _Ishimura_ alerted us through the automated female that sounded strangely like Nicole, "Warning! Reserve Power approaching critical levels! Restart engines to restore Primary Power!"

Moving towards the heavy circular airtight entrance to the path that lead to the Engine Room, I said, "Come on, we don't have much time!" When I reached the thick circular door that allowed access to Fuel Storage and the Engine Room, I waited for _Ishimura_ to reroute the power. When the blue holographic circle appeared in the center of the airtight door, I used my RIG to open it and then entered the small airlock chamber beyond. We did not have much time. EarthGov was closing in on our location and we only had precious minutes left before the ship was completely out of power. Getting the engines started was our only chance to survive this new nightmare.


	3. Chapter 3: Broken but not defeated

Ch. 3: Broken but not defeated

A.N.:

Hey everyone!

Sorry for the long wait. I normally don't take so long but I have been sick. I am better now and the waits shouldn't be so long anymore. I typically do a three week cycle between my three main stories.

Anyway,

So, I added a few things to Ishimura. I made her A.I. somewhat like ANTI from Dead Space 2. That and I took some liberties with her Gravity Tethers.

I hope the readers are a little familiar with Dead Space: Salvage and Dead Space: Severed. Otherwise, you might be a little lost when I introduce some of the main antagonists for the story.

Thank you to everyone who has been supportive of this story.

Read and review if you want.

* * *

As we proceeded towards the ship's Engine Room, I began to inwardly question my reasons for having faith in the old mining ship and her engines. After all, the old girl was not exactly known in the CEC circles for being a spring chicken. In fact, the recent engineering crews affectionately referred to her just prior to the Aegis VII Incident as "The Rock" on part of her size, namesake, which translated as "Stone Village", and the age of her design. _Ishimura_ was indeed a technological marvel when she was first built and still was even now in her twilight years.

Going on nothing less than faith, I continued towards the Engine Room. The massive hole just beyond the first airlock had been repaired during her refit but it only appeared to be a quick patch because it consisted of several large metal plates that had been welded into place. A temporary bridge had been put into place to allow easy access to the matching vacuum-sealing hatch on the other side of the space. It had been years but, to me, it only seemed like hours since I had used my gravity boots to jump past the floating, bleeding corpse of one of the ship's engineers as I made my way through this very same area.

Beyond the second door, I found that the usually noisy three-story storage area was eerily silent. Moreover, the thick putrid growth was gone. With only the work lamps and rapidly fading emergency lights being functional, I used my stock Plasma Cutter's built-in flashlight to illuminate the partly cleaned up path to the bottom level. The ship's systems continued to monitor our progress and activate the cargo lifts for us as we neared them. Ellie remained silent until we reached the bottom level even though we passed several remnants of the bloodbath that had transpired all those years ago.

As we approached the previously malfunctioning pair of massive doors on the bottom level that were now locked in the open position, she suddenly asked me, "Her name was Nicole wasn't it?"

I paused for a moment as I looked back at my partner. She stood about an arm's length away. Her Advanced Suit's V-shaped eyes stared a hole through me as they also cast a bright blue light along her slender feminine frame. I cringed behind my Engineering Suit's protective face plate. What would she think of me if I told her about my guilt-driven obsession to "save" Nicole inside _Ishimura_ above Aegis VII? My growing dementia that had manifested a Nicole both on the stricken mining ship, the Aegis VII Colony, and then on Titan Station?

I tried to avoid the unpleasant conversation when I replied, "Ellie, this isn't the ti…"

However, the stubborn woman interrupted me as she demanded, "Damn it Isaac I saved your life! You owe me an explanation for why you sent me away like you did. The way you looked at me when you said that you couldn't save Nicole but you could save me and the way you said Nicole…she was your wife wasn't she? She was the one that you came here to save and you couldn't…so…you _saved_ me in her place...didn't you?"

Realizing that she was not going to be satisfied until I told her the truth about Nichole, I gave in and explained, "No, Nicole wasn't my wife but I had hoped that she would be someday. She was the Senior Medical Officer aboard _Ishimura_. I received a message from her just before contact was lost. So, when CEC started asking around for volunteers for a repair mission, I signed up so I could make sure that she was safe. We had been having problems in our relationship but I still loved her. The Marker manipulated me by giving me hallucinations of her. I thought that she was alive and that we had returned the Marker to its pedestal on the planet. However, one of my crew members revealed that she had been dead before I had even set foot inside the _Ishimura_. If I had just been strong enough to watch the end of her message, I would have known that. Perhaps I did but I was too obsessed to remember that she was actually dead. On Titan Station, the Marker that I had created kept manifesting her to torment me until I gave in. When I did, it betrayed me and nearly killed me. When I defeated it, I somehow destroyed the Marker along with it. That was when you came back."

My earlier worry about having to reveal my obsession and dementia was proven unfounded when Ellie simply nodded before she replied, "I'm sorry Isaac. I know it must have been heartbreaking when you couldn't save her. Especially after everything that you went through to try to save her."

I replied, "I survived."

She finally pointed out the elephant in the room when she asked, "How did you manage to survive? A Systems Engineer with no military training or background yet you survived the Aegis VII Incident and the Outbreak on Titan Station?"

Again, I replied, "I survived." Her questions seemingly satisfied for the time being, I continued towards the silent engine core. Luckily, it was a very short walk from the bottom level exit of the storage area to the entrance of the Engine Core. As I entered the silent room, the massive shaft loomed above me. At the far end of the room, I saw the control panel for the engine. All I had to do was divert all remaining power into a chance to restart the old but very potent and massive engine of the _Ishimura_.

As I approached the blue holographic control panel, _Ishimura_ announced, "Warning! All on-board power nearly depleted. Please restart Main Engine to prevent total system failure." The heavy thud of my gravity boots impacting the metal mesh floor beneath me was the only sound that I could hear over the pounding of my heartbeat as I moved to the control panel. Finally, I found myself standing before it once again.

I set my Plasma Cutter down onto the floor and got to work. The blue screen had various warnings in small pop-up windows. I cleared them and then worked through the codes to divert the power from the ship to her engine. With her power down to nearly nothing, I would have to manually restart the engine rather than merely using the auto-start program. One at a time, I began to shut down all of the various systems including the artificial gravity. With my gravity boots keeping me standing upright, I turned and looked at Ellie. There was an unspoken confirmation that she was ready. I nodded in response and then turned back to the control panel.

I hesitated for a moment as I stared at the confirmation for the ship's life support to be purged and the power diverted to the Main Engine. There would be no going back once I purged the life support. There was not enough power to restart the life support once it was turned off. It had all come down to this one single leap of faith. Either this would be the end of our story or it would be the beginning.

Suddenly, I felt another hand on top of my own as it hovered above the confirmation pop-up window. I felt Ellie's slender frame against my back and left shoulder as she stood against me and put her left hand on top of my left hand. The side of her armored heard rested against my own as she leaned into my frame. Without a word, we both mutually confirmed the purge of the ship's life support.

As the entire ship became a lifeless tomb as indicated by the blue hue of the air, the female voice of my RIG announced, "Warning! Entering Vacuum!"

Meanwhile, _Ishimura_ announced, "Warning! All life support has been purged! Personal oxygen supplies are now required!" Then, she continued in a different voice that again seemed suspiciously akin to Nicole's gentle voice, "All power has been diverted to Main Engine. Please restart now."

Before me on the screen was the question, "Activate?" Below it was the description, "START THE ENGINE SEQUENCE." Together, Ellie and I pressed the screen to start the engine sequence. For a brief, heart-stopping moment, there was nothing. The control panel's holographic projection suddenly disappeared as the remaining power on the ship was depleted. Pitch black darkness overwhelmed me as the ship became as silent as a tomb. I felt Ellie's arms wrap around me as if she was trying to reassure me that it was not my fault. The realization that this was the end of our story hit home. I had gambled one too many times and now I was going to pay for it with my life. The only reassurance was that the nightmare, for Ellie and I at least, was finally over.

However, just as all hope seemed lost, several loud sequential bangs erupted through the pitch black interior of the Engine Core. The ghostly voice of the dead ship announced, "Ignition sequence initiated. Please stand by." Hope returned as I heard the Main Engine restarting. It would take it a moment to warm up before it would turn over but a faint glimmer of hope returned to both of us as we waiting in the pitch darkness that was now filled with the sounds of heavy machinery. Only time would tell if our RIG's reserve oxygen supplies would last long enough.

The warm up sequence seemed to last an eternity. The engine seemed to be laboring and I quickly realized that traces of the soapy sludge that was the remains of the Necromorphs must have found their way onto the exterior of the Main Engine. A faint orange glow appeared above us as the massive shaft began to spin. Nearly a minute later, the control panel's holographic projection returned as _Ishimura_ announced, "Please confirm ignition sequence." Our hands still intertwined, we confirmed the ignition sequence. A loud whoosh filled the air before an ear-shattering roar rocked the entire ship. In an instant, the massive multi-story engine thundered to life.

 _Ishimura_ announced in an almost proud manner over the mechanical thunder, "Engines firing."

I could see it all in my mind: the lights on the ship turning back on one section at a time as a loud bang accompanied their progress, the infamous ventilation system once again pumping fresh air throughout the ship, the enormous Gravity Centrifuge spinning in its mount to provide the ship with its own gravity, consoles and displays once again informing the now non-existent crew of the status of various systems, and the ghostly echo of the ship's former glory filling the air in the form of announcements through the intercom system. It must have been a very strange sight to behold for all those present when the old Planet Cracker came back to life while she floated amongst the death and destruction of Titan Station. Death had come for _Ishimura_ nearly three times in only a few years. However, like me, it seemed that Fate had other plans for the beaten and abused workhorse.

In mutual celebration of our survival, Ellie and I wrapped our arms around each other. A few seconds later, as if we both suddenly realized what we were doing, we retracted from each other. I turned and went to retrieve my Plasma Cutter. As I bent down to retrieve my tool, Ellie asked me with her weathered British-accented voice, "So, what now?"

Having retrieved my mining tool turned weapon, I stood back up, turned, and then looked at my partner before I explained, " _Ishimura_ surely just attracted the attention of the EarthGov Blockade. We need to get to the bridge."

As we made our way back through the now well-lit corridors, she asked, "How are we going to get past the blockade? This is a Planet Cracker, not a warship. The only sizable weapons are the ship's ADS Mass-Driver Cannons. Even if we could get them to target the warships, there is no way that they are going to punch through the ships' deflector shields. _Ishimura_ doesn't have shields of its own. We'll get ripped to shreds if we try to run past them."

Leading the way to the shortcut back to the control room of the Engineering Deck, I replied, "There is a far more powerful weapon that _Ishimura_ has on-board."

Ellie asked me with a suspicious tone, "What do you mean?"

I replied, "I'll explain when we get to the bridge. Let's hustle, the tram is offline so we will have to hurry to get to the bridge in time."

Sure enough, by the time that we reached the Bridge Deck via the short Zero Gravity trip from the Medical Deck, _Ishimura_ announced, "Warning! Numerous unidentified vessels approaching!" I broke into a run as I rushed to reach the Crow's Nest in time. I hardly gave a second thought to the cracked windows of the Security Check-In Station as I ran towards the Main Atrium.

As we ran through the maze-like path in the Main Atrium, Ellie called after me, "You still haven't explained what other weapon _Ishimura_ has that can get us past the blockade." Through the giant reinforced windows just beyond the stairs that led down to the elevator on the far side of the atrium, I saw three large warships similar to the _USM Valor_ approaching _Ishimura_ through the debris field. I also saw nearly a dozen smaller gunships similar to the one in which Ellie and I had escaped Titan Station. We could reprogram the ADS to deal with the smaller gunships but the warships would require something with considerably more firepower.

As we descended in the elevator, _Ishimura_ announced, "Incoming transmission…"

The ship's A.I. transferred the transmission to my RIG. The holographic projector of my RIG emitted the image of a helmeted Marine wearing a Level 6 Advanced Soldier RIG. The soldier ordered with a cold, distorted tone, " _USG Ishimura_ , this is the _USM Vengeance_. In accordance with Earth Government Maritime Law and Earth Government Quarantine Order Number: One Hundred and Five, you are in violation of multiple restrictions and laws. Cut your engine and prepare to be boarded. Any attempts to flee or resist will be met with pre-authorized lethal force. This message will repeat every ten seconds until you respond."

By then, the elevator platform had reached the bottom level. Ellie followed me as perplexed as she had been for the past half hour as I ran to the entrance to the Crow's Nest. Upon entering the room, I saw the control panel for the Gravity Tethers on the left against the far wall and the Navigation System's control panel on the far right. The Captain's Chair was directly beyond the entrance and looked out beyond the holographic projection of the ship's surroundings and through the five glass panels that afforded a breath-taking view of the star-filled space in front of the massive mining ship.

I pointed towards the controls for the Gravity Tethers as I instructed my confused partner, "Ellie, operate the controls for the ship's Gravity Tethers."

She stared at me in complete silence for a moment before she said, "Isaac, you can't be serious…"

I replied, "Come on, Ellie. We don't have much time before they reach us. The ADS can deal with the gunships but we need the power of _Ishimura_ 's Gravity Tethers to get through the warships."

Ellie argued, "All that will do is draw them in closer to us."

I laughed darkly before I explained, "Yes, but not before it tears their hulls apart bolt by bolt, hatch by hatch, and soldier by soldier. She was designed and built to rip apart planets hundreds of times her own size. Some man-made piles of scrap metal will be child's play...deflector shields or not."

Without a better alternative, Ellie moved to operate the Gravity Tethers. I sat down in the Captain's Chair and then addressed _Ishimura_ 's A.I., " _Ishmiura_ , Captain Benjamin Mathius and all on-board CEC Officers are deceased. Confirm."

The A.I. responded with its soft female voice, "Confirmed."

I continued, "As the highest ranking CEC employee on-board, I hereby appoint myself as the new Executive Commanding Officer. Confirm."

 _Ishimura_ was silent for a moment before she replied, "Confirmed." Then, with a chillingly uncharacteristic knowing tone, the ship that was both my greatest ally and my greatest nightmare continued, "CEC Engineer…Isaac Clarke…is now the Executive Commanding Officer of _USG Ishimura_. You have come a long way from when you were clawing your way through the dark, haven't you Isaac? I hope you are well."

I replied, "I've never been better."

To my surprise, the A.I. remarked, "We shall see how long that lasts."

Shaking off the uneasy feeling, I ordered the ship, " _Ishimura_ , I am issuing a no-fly order. All incoming objects are to be destroyed by the ADS. Divert all non-essential power to the ADS, Gravity Centrifuge, and Damage Control."

The A.I. replied moments later, "No-fly order confirmed. All non-essential power has been diverted to the Asteroid Defense System, Gravity Centrifuge, and Damage Control."

Ellie asked me with a worried tone, "Isaac, are you sure that you know what you are doing?"

I laughed before I replied, "Absolutely. I am about to take on the most powerful military in the entire Universe with a sixty-five year-old Planet Cracker and a one-eyed heavy equipment operator. I know exactly what I am doing, Ellie."

The _USM Vengeance_ , which was likely the twin sister of the _USM Valor_ , and the two other destroyer-class warships carefully closed the distance as they attempted to navigate the debris field that still surrounded _Ishimura_. I noticed a few of the small gunships suddenly explode in bright flashes of light as they were unable to avoid colliding with debris. As they did, I began calculating in my head. The _Ishimura_ was an enormous ship at more than 1.6 km long and nearly 0.5 km tall. She had the tonnage for a heavy weight fight but not the weaponry. The ADS would be able to counter any projectile-based weaponry but the ship would be helpless against sufficiently powerful laser weapons. The _Ishiumra_ 's reinforced hull, while not protected by military-grade armor, was significantly thicker than most commercial vessels due to the hazards associated with planet cracking. She may not have been a warship, but she was certainly not a lightweight.

My thoughts were derailed when _Ishimura_ announced, "Incoming transmission…"

The holographic projection changed to be the uniformed Marine that had contacted me earlier. The soldier stated with the same icy tone, " _USG Ishimura_ , this is your final warning. Cut your engine and deactivate your ADS. Failure to comply within the next thirty seconds will result in destruction."

It was now or never. I pointed towards the _USM Vengeance_ as I said, "Ellie, hit the _Vengeance_ with the Gravity Tethers!" My partner selected the warship on the screen before her and then held down the option to activate the tethers. As she did, a loud alarm siren filled the _Ishimura_ 's Crow's Nest. As I watched, multiple large beams that resembled the one that my kinesis module projected traveled from _Ishimura_ to the _USM Vengeance_. The staggering extent of _Ishimura_ 's formidable might was displayed for all to see as her Gravity Tethers took possession of the _USM Vengeance_. The holographic projection of the Marine became distorted as the soldier was thrown off his feet.

Just before the transmission was lost, I heard another soldier yell in a panicked manner, "Command, _Ishimura_ has hit us with its Gravity Tethers! All units open fir…agh!" A bright flash appeared as the transmission was lost. Meanwhile, through the glass panels, I saw the _Vengeance_ quickly succumb to the power of the Planet Cracker's Gravity Tethers. Numerous small explosions erupted along the warship's hull. Seconds later, the explosions were joined by what looked like rivers of fire that spread along the ship's armored surface at such a rapid rate that it was clear that her end was near.

Sure enough, seconds later, the _Vengeance_ was torn apart into several large sections. The small victory was short-lived as the gunships closed in on us through the debris. However, as the small vessels neared the Planet Cracker, her ADS cannons began to track and open fire upon them. Lacking any defensive measures other than their lackluster agility, the gunships were no match for the thick hull and automated mass-driver turrets of the _Ishimura_. Compared to her immense size, the gunships resembled a swarm of mosquitoes attacking an elephant. Clouds of small explosions soon surrounded the vintage workhorse as her ADS proved its worth.

Meanwhile, Ellie targeted a second warship and then fired the Gravity Tethers. Again, the man-made machine was no match for the staggering power of the Planet Cracker. In less than a minute, the warship was ripped apart as if it was a mere toy. Seconds later, _Ishimura_ vibrated slightly. The A.I. alerted us, "Warning! Collision detected in Hanger Bay 3!"

I quickly ordered, " _Ishimura_ , purge the life support in Hanger Bay 3!"

The A.I. replied with its haunting female voice, "Purging life support…life support purged."

Ellie asked, "You think any of them survived the crash?"

I replied, "Doubt it but we cannot afford to take any chances."

She nodded in response. Then, she asked with her weathered voice, "How long do you think we can keep this up?"

Before I could reply, the sight of an enormous warship appeared behind the remaining destroyer-class warship. I had never seen a warship of such a large size. It was roughly the same size as the _Ishimura_ with a pill-shaped hull that was shaved off at the top where there was a large superstructure. At the aft of the warship, I saw a large fan-tail structure that easily towered over the highest point on _Ishimura_. Along the massive warship's dark olive green and jet black hull, I saw a formidable array of massive cannons that would easily be able to rip the _Ishimura_ apart. In addition to the massive cannons, I saw batteries of torpedo tubes and nuclear warhead launching ports. Adding to her offensive capabilities, the starship had numerous landing bays that were likely filled with gunships. Moments later, four more destroyer-class vessels joined the much larger warship.

Ellie remarked, "Shit! Isaac!"

Before I could decide what to do, the A.I. informed us, "Incoming transmission…"

The holographic projection changed to be a strange-looking yet robust man that appeared to be dressed in some kind of white uniform. There was something sinister about him that I could not quite understand. His expression never changed as he addressed us with a frigid, professional manner, "Two of our Highly Valued Targets…Isaac Clarke and Ellie Langford. In another situation, even we would commend your resourcefulness. However, this has gone on long enough. Now, deactivate the _Ishimura_ 's engine and Asteroid Defense System. Then, proceed to the Flight Deck and await our arrival."

Shocked that the man knew who we were, I demanded, "Who are you people?!"

The strange individual remained unmoved as he informed me, "You are in no position to make demands Clarke. Our superiors want you alive and in one piece. We are your only way out of this. Face it Clarke: this is one fight you cannot win. Every Earth Government soldier from here to the ends of the Universe will be hunting you. There will be no safe haven for a terrorist like you. You will be shot on sight unless you come with us. We will give you two a moment to reconsider your position. We trust that you will make the sensible decision."

The projection returned to being _Ishimura_ 's surroundings once again. Ellie and I looked at each other for a brief moment before she remarked with a sarcastic tone, "I don't suppose that they are doing this out of the kindness in their hearts."

I laughed darkly in response. Whoever these people were, their thinly veiled hostility was not something that we should trifle with. Out of the two of us, only I would have any real benefit to whatever new EarthGov program they intended to use me for. The Marker Codes were still in my head but according to the data that I had uncovered in the Government Sector's Marker Facility, I had outlived my usefulness because now, where there was an EarthGov colony, there was a Marker Facility. Meanwhile, someone like Ellie was just another witness to be executed to prevent a contradiction of the official story.

I paused as I realized something. Ellie had been exposed to the powerful signal of the Titan Station Marker. The Marker's power easily surpassed the one on Aegis VII, but Ellie had yet to show any signs of dementia. She had not had any violent episodes, paranoia, or even any hallucinations that she had mentioned. I had to make sure. I asked her, "Ellie, have you been feeling strange lately?"

She cocked her helmeted slightly to the right as she asked in response, "What do you mean?"

I explained, "Ellie, exposure to a Marker imprints a signal into a person's brain. The intelligent individuals begin to suffer from headaches and violent paranoia. They begin seeing and hearing things that aren't really there. Everyone else just hears noise that slowly drives them mad. Have you been suffering from anything like that?"

She shook her head before she replied, "Aside from the headache that I have from having my eye forcibly removed by a rusted screwdriver, no."

I was stunned by the revelation that Ellie had an immunity to the Markers. Now I realized that it was not me that they were after, it was Ellie. An immunity to the Markers would be worth its weight in gold. I could build them and interpret their "language" but I was affected by their degenerating signal though less so than most. Someone that was immune to them would be able to approach and handle them without suffering any adverse mental disorders. The thought of what they would do to my partner filled me with resolve. I would be damned before I let them do their profane and dehumanizing tests to her.

I remarked, "They want your immunity…"

Sounding as though she did not think that she had heard me correctly, my partner asked, "What?"

I explained, "You are immune to the Markers, Ellie. That is a very rare gift…rare enough to kill for. Trust me, the things that they will do to you…you're better off dead."

If the tough young woman felt any fear, her voice never betrayed her strong front as she asked with a calm tone, "So, what is the plan? I don't think that we can destroy them all before they rip us to shreds."

I shook my head as I replied in agreement, "No…there are too many now." Thinking quickly, I continued, "Unless…"

She asked me, "Unless what?"

Looking at the warships surrounding the large behemoth before us, I said, "Target as many of the smaller ones as you can."

Ellie argued, "But individually, the tethers aren't strong enough to destroy them. All they will do is drag them."

I explained, "Yes and once we have them tethered, if we draw them together…"

Ellie finished, "…they will collide with the larger one."

I said, "Yes. Even if it does not destroy them, the damage will be enough to make them shock out of the system for repairs. It will buy us enough time to shock out of here."

Ellie nodded and then turned back to the control panel for the Gravity Tethers. The holographic projection had just changed back to the image of the strange man dressed in white as my partner activated the Gravity Tethers one final time. The man started to say, "Time is up. Now, we trust that you made the right decis…" However, he was interrupted as the tethers snared the destroyer-class starships that were around the large warship. Under Ellie's control, the tethers began to drag the small vessels inward. The man momentarily lost his composure as he furiously yelled, "CLARKE!"

The transmission was lost as the warships collided together in a spectacular cloud of light and fire. The smaller destroyer-class starships were severely crippled if not destroyed as their hulls made contact with the deflector shield of the much larger warship. What remained of the smaller ships began to rapidly disintegrate as their ravaged hulls proved to be no match for the vacuum of space. Meanwhile, while the larger warship had been spared by its powerful deflection field, it had not escaped unscathed.

Despite the vast distance between us, I could see the shield of the now lone vessel. The normally nearly invisible deflector shield was flashing with a hellfire red tint. I quickly deduced that it was the ship's reactor. The collisions of the warships had caused power fluctuations that were now overwhelming the reactor. If the crew did not get a handle on the situation soon, the reactor would suffer a meltdown.

Our bold assault was rewarded moments later as the holographic projection changed to be the mysterious man once again. In the background, we could see that the ship was in a bad way. Electrical panels were sparking dangerously, faint fire alarms could be heard, and several strips of the ceiling were hanging down. Multiple crew members that were dressed in normal EarthGov soldier uniforms were rushing about around the man as they fought to contain the damage done to their ship.

However, despite the chaos around him, the strange individual calmly remarked with a once again professional manner, "We are truly beginning to admire your spirit, Mr. Clarke. It is a shame that things have turned out this way. You would have been a valuable operative." At that moment, one of the soldiers approached him. He said apologetically, "Excuse us..."

The white uniformed man turned and looked at the helmeted EarthGov soldier. The grunt informed him, "Sir, Engineering reports that the reactor has suffered critical damage. They have had no choice but to disable all primary defensive measures to prevent a complete failure of containment." Then, as the man nodded his head slightly to show that he understood, the soldier continued, "The captain reports that the main cannon battery is locked onto the _Ishimura_ and that he is awaiting your instructions."

My breath caught in my throat. They had us dead to rights. With just a word, this man would have us killed. Ellie moved to stand next to me as she too was convinced that this was the end for us. We had come so far only to die here and now. The man replied, "Tell the captain to stand down at once and prepare to shock back to Earth for repairs. Have our remaining gunships withdraw and report to the nearest base for reassignment."

Our shock and confusion was shared by the EarthGov soldier as he objected, "Sir, the targets…all the Marines that we just lost?"

The man replied, "They will not get far. We have agents and informants in every colony. They will turn up sooner or later. After all, the _Ishimura_ 's Hydroponics Deck is devoid of vegetation. Contingencies are in place…cover stories ready to hit the news…if you have a problem with this, I will give the tragic news of your death to your loved ones in person." The soldier nodded and then saluted the man before walking out of sight.

The strange individual turned back to us and continued, "We apologize for the interruption. You have nowhere to hide, Mr. Clarke and Miss Langford. You will run out of oxygen and food in less than a week. We trust that you will turn yourselves in to the nearest colonial detention center after you have finished your childish fit of rebellion. Please refrain from inflicting any further damage to the _Ishimura_. The CEC is attempting to return it to service upon the completion of its retrofit. We are confident that they would appreciate it if you returned their Planet Cracker to them in one piece."

As we watched in shocked silence, the few remaining gunships limped away from the _Ishimura_ while the large warship began to turn to face away from us. For a moment I worried that it was all a trick; a cruel joke on EarthGov's part to give us hope for survival only to rip it all away in a dramatic fashion. However, my worry was proven unjustified as the powerful warship shocked out of the system leaving behind the burning wreckage of what had once been the blockade.

Ellie was the one that finally broke the silence when she remarked, "I…I can't believe that we are still alive."

I looked at her and then said, "It doesn't matter. He was right. We have nowhere to go. If we dock at a port, _Ishimura_ will be recognized. Without the food crop in the Hydroponics Deck, our oxygen will run out in a few days. No matter where we end up, EarthGov will find us eventually."

To my surprise, Ellie reassured me cryptically, "I know where we can go and not get reported to or found by EarthGov."

Confused, I asked, "Where?"

My partner replied, "Just trust me."

She moved over to the control panel on the right side of the Crow's Nest to begin inputting the coordinates. However, as she started to type on the screen, I stopped her when I said, "Wait, Ellie. There might be other survivors. We should broadcast a message and stay here in case anyone responds."

Ellie looked at me as she replied bluntly, "Not a chance Isaac. The people where I am taking us are very distrusting of outsiders. They trust me but I am going to have a hard enough time getting them to allow you to stay. Other survivors would be a deal breaker. Now, do you want to have a place to go and not have the military might of EarthGov crashing down on you within minutes of arriving or not?"

Horrified, I objected, "But EarthGov is hunting them just as much as they are hunting us, Ellie."

Pointing out the windows at the destroyed warships, Ellie said, "And we have opened the way for them to escape. They are on their own now." Sensing my disgust of her cold attitude, she sighed and then addressed me with a warmer, sympathetic tone, "Look, Isaac...it is not that I don't care or don't want to help them. It is them or us and even if there were any survivors that managed to get past the blockade, they are probably already on the other side of the Universe by now."

I realized that she was right. If there were any survivors left, we had already opened the route for their escape. If there had been any survivors before us, they were already dead due to the blockade or had managed to shock as far away as they possibly could. On the flip-side of things, any survivors would be very wary of us and would believe that a large Planet Cracker offering aid was too good to be true and was instead a trap.

Relenting, I said, " _Ishimura_ , cancel the no-fly order and resume normal power distribution."

The ship's A.I. replied, "No-fly ordered canceled. Normal power distribution resumed. Shock coordinates locked. Maneuvering out of debris field to reach acceptable surroundings to activate shockpoint drive. Please stand by." With as much grace as one would expect from a vessel the size of a city, the autopilot began to maneuver the _Ishimura_ out of the debris field. As the Planet Cracker moved through the remains of Titan Station, I contemplated our next step.

EarthGov was going to blame the catastrophic loss of life and property on us. Our names and pictures would be broadcasted across the entire Universe. Our assets would be frozen and our property seized. There would be no safety for us until we were dead, captured, or somehow cleared our names. Worse still, the _Ishimura_ was an icon that every man, woman, and child would instantly recognize. However, there was a silver lining to this workhorse.

Properly outfitted, the _Ishimura_ could remain in the far reaches of space for months if not years at a time. Logistics prevented an indefinite stay in space as eventually there would be accidents and malfunctions that overwhelmed the on-board means of repair and containment. Such a scenario had befallen the great vessel above Aegis VII and I was determined to ensure that such a nightmare would never happen again within her reinforced walls.

If Ellie's trust in the of the inhabitants of whatever colony or spaceport she was taking us to was founded, we could finish _Ishimura_ 's refit and then return to space. EarthGov's child-like wonder of the Markers had put the entire Universe in danger. The Unitologists were convinced that their insane beliefs had been proven true and were likely about to begin openly clashing with EarthGov to "free" the Markers. Hell was about to descend upon the Universe and Ellie and I were about to be caught in the middle of it all. Without allies, we were not going to last very long.

We had come this far, however. We needed to capitalize on the small mercies granted to us by Fate. A seemingly impossible task loomed before us but every journey started with a single step. Until my body turned cold, I would not stop my quest to stop the Markers one way or another. I had nothing to lose anymore. My career was effectively destroyed. My reputation was ruined. My mind had been shattered twice in rapid succession. My body was beaten and carried the unnatural scars of surviving two Necromorph outbreaks. Like _Ishimura_ , I was broken but not defeated and I was not going to stand idly by while humanity destroyed itself. Moments later, having navigated out of the debris field, the Planet Cracker activated its shockpoint drive and we shocked out of the system.


	4. Chapter 4: Jericho

Ch. 4: Jericho

* * *

A.N.:

Hey everyone!

Sorry about the long wait. I have been swamped this semester and I was stuck deciding upon how to proceed with this story.

I hope it was worth the wait!

Read and review if you want!

* * *

The _Ishimura_ 's hull rocked as one of the station's sentries fired a warning shot with its on-board weaponry. I looked over at Ellie and then said, "I thought you said that you knew these people!"

When we shocked into the location that Ellie had specified in the navigation system, I was stunned to see a large space station the size of The Sprawl. The structure resembled an octopus as it was anchored around a large asteroid and had eight long docking platforms extending out from the object. Several buildings were visible on the platforms, which had multiple small and mid-sized vessels moored along their lengths.

I had heard about stations such as this one. They were illegal, undocumented hubs of the criminal underworld. It was quite an eye-opener about my new partner that she not only knew the exact coordinates of one of these highly dangerous criminal hives but also that she seemed to be intimately familiar with its residents. Ellie had never struck me as a bureaucratic straight-laced person but she had certainly never struck me as someone who willingly broke laws.

My partner shot back, "A large mining vessel that was reported to be destroyed mysteriously appearing unannounced…what did you think they were going to do? Roll out the red carpet?"

Before I could reply, _Ishimura_ 's A.I. informed us, "Incoming transmission…"

Moments later, the holographic projector's image changed to be that of a middle-aged man that was partially bald and had a patch of thick scars on the right side of his face where he had apparently been severely burned. He was clad in an older military RIG that was either missing its helmet or, like my Level Five Engineering RIG's helmet, it was detachable. The RIG was once affiliated with EarthGov but the identifying marks had been noticeably ripped off or otherwise removed.

The man began to address us with a tone that had the firm pattern of a military operative, "I don't know how you found this station but I can…" However, he paused when he saw Ellie. I would have had to been blind to fail to notice the way that he looked at her. As much as it alarmed me, the reason for Ellie knowing the exact location of this station and her claim to be able to convince the inhabitants to allow me to tag along with her became clear.

The man looked to the right for a moment as an expression of mild disgust appeared on his scarred face before he looked back and said, "Oh, it's you."

My companion shot back, "The fuck do you mean 'oh, it's you'? Your poor innocent sister nearly gets killed and that is how you welcome her back home?! I lost an eye damn it!"

Ellie's brother replied, "Calm down, you know that is not what I meant! We just heard about the terrorist attack at Titan Station. Damn Unitologist fanatics…I am relieved to see that you survived. Not only that, but you managed to get that old clunker to work. We will make quite a profit parting out Ishie."

I had anticipated that EarthGov had already covered up the truth about the entire incident. They were going to kill two birds with one stone. By implicating a fanatical group of Unitologists extremists, EarthGov could potentially cause enough of a public backlash to gain approval of new acts and laws to override the protection that the church enjoyed thanks to the separation of church and state. Granted, they had already been illegally doing so, but now, they could gain public approval and broaden their intrusion into the infamously tight-knit Unitologist circles.

Ellie corrected her sibling, "Terrorist attack? EarthGov was responsible for the entire thing."

The soldier looked down as an expression of thought appeared on his weathered face for a moment. Then, he looked back up and asked, "Do they know that you escaped?"

She replied, "Why do you think I'm here? We need your help."

The man asked with a confused tone, "We?"

Ellie explained, "I have another survivor with me. His name is Isaac Clarke. He was the one that repaired the _Ishimura_. We need your hel…"

Her brother interrupted her as he said with a stern tone, "We have a rule against outsiders, Ellie. No exceptions, not even for a…"

My head-strong partner interrupted him with an equally stern tone, "He saved my life. You owe him."

The two siblings stared at each other for a brief moment until the man finally relented and said, "Fine...but if he causes any trouble, he is your responsibility." He looked away for a moment before informing us, "There is an open repair slip at Dock C."

Ellie replied, "Thank you."

The holographic image was replaced by the three-dimensional projection of the Planet Cracker's surroundings. As she guided the massive mining vessel towards one of the station's projecting arms, I asked her with my voice being slightly muffled by my Engineering RIG's helmet, "Your family owns an illegal space port?"

She narrowed her eye for a moment before she replied defensively, "Yes. Do you have something to say about it?"

I assured her, "No…just…kind of a surprise." To my relief, she nodded slightly and then returned her attention to guiding the _Ishimura_ into the repair slip. Various guide ships began to surround us to help Ellie inch the massive industrial vessel into the hanger-like repair slip. The station had clearly never had a visitor like the _Ishimura_ because, though the personnel inside the repair slip had, in fact, deployed a gravity tether to attempt to guide the Planet Cracker into the slightly larger space, the massive and powerful vessel proved to be too much for the small tethers.

In the same way that she had been able to overpower the military warships and the numerous number of planets and asteroids, _Ishimura_ was also one of, if not the, most difficult vessel to control. Had it not been for her revolutionary A.I., it would have been impossible for a Planet Cracker of her size to have ever been practical for commercial use. The fact that people believed that her days were numbered and that she should be scrapped was simply appalling to me not only because, as an engineer, the mighty Planet Cracker was essentially a work of art, but also because she had proven that she was still far more capable than her smaller successors.

Her defeat of the EarthGov Blockade had not been a trifle achievement. Very few warships, let alone a commercial vessel, could have done the same. Even then, those warships would have sustained critical damage. _Ishimura_ had only sustained minor damage despite her already damaged state. If I could restore her back to her prime, there would be very little that she could not do.

However, even with _Ishimura_ , we were still only two people and a Planet Cracker. Neither of us had any military training. We were facing the entire military of EarthGov. Even worse, we were facing the nearly unstoppable hordes of the Necromorphs thanks to EarthGov's obsessive delusion that the Markers were the answer to the energy and resource crisis. My true enemy were the Markers, EarthGov was simply an obstacle.

There had always been something that had been bothering me about the Markers. The otherwise inanimate objects were somehow generating seemingly limitless energy. I was not a physics expert but I did know that what the Markers seemed to be doing was simply impossible. Energy could not be created, it simply changed forms such as from heat into light energy. The Markers simply could not be "creating" the energy that they gave off. Therefore, they were not the source of the energy that they were giving off.

I paused as the realization hit me. The Markers were not the source of the "signal". They were instead simply the receivers of the signal. The true source of the signal was elsewhere. If the signal was continuous…

* * *

"…we can trace the Marker Signal back to its source?" Ellie asked me via the holographic comlink of my Engineering RIG. It had been several months since we had arrived at the illegal space port, named Jericho, that her family owned. One of the conditions that her family had given for not only my but _Ishimura_ 's temporary residence at the station was that I had to remain on-board the Planet Cracker. However, considering the alternative, I was more than willing to compromise. Besides, considering that the station was populated by people who all had good reasons to not be living anywhere near law enforcement, I was more than willing to remain on-board the _Ishimura_. Ellie had offered to remain on-board as well but her overprotective brother, a former captain in the Earth Defense Force, had refused to allow that to happen.

Though she could not stay on-board the _Ishimura_ , my partner returned every day to help me repair the vessel. She acted as the liaison between the local scrap dealers and me. Luckily, as her brother had implied when we had first arrived, the station did indeed have a scrap trade and, thus, the raw parts to fix the mining ship were available and, as a family member of the owners of the station, the dealers supplied her with the parts that she requested without charge. I decided that it was best to not question where the parts came from because, a few times, I had noticed that the parts had EDF markings on them. Meanwhile, the repair slip personnel had removed the equipment that the Cleanup Crews had left behind on Titan Station and sold it all to the scrap dealers.

After several months, I had the _Ishimura_ restored to a state more fitting of her reputation. The damage to her exterior hull had been patched as best it could considering that I did not have the resources or personnel of a functioning ship yard. The damaged Tram System had been restored using a vintage freight car. The Medical Deck was picked through by the station's salvage crews but the main pieces of equipment were left in place, albeit nonoperational as the time that the ship had been drifting dead in space had taken a heavy toll on their sensitive electronics and mechanisms.

The Mining Deck had been the most prized by the salvage crews because the expensive and high-demand tools and equipment had been the most protected inside the bowls of the massive Planet Cracker and, thus, the most intact. However, the core mechanisms of the "teeth" of the largest destroyer of worlds that humanity had ever created were left untouched and fully-operational by the vultures, perhaps out of a sign of respect for the "Savior of Humanity".

The Bridge had been the most difficult to restore. The large cargo crates on the main level had been removed by the repair slip personnel. After nearly a week, access to the other levels of the deck had been restored. However, all that we had found was the twisted wreckage of what had once been the ship's control stations. Realizing that the majority of the Bridge was beyond repair without a proper ship yard and complete overhaul, I had simply deactivated the elevators and left the other levels of the deck in the dark after the salvage crews had finished removing everything of scrap value.

The Crew Deck had been the most gutted area of the ship and was now a mere shell compared to how it had been when I had first visited the ship above Aegis VII. Now little more than an empty storage area save for my personal residence in the captain's sleeping quarters, the deck was largely neglected by my restoration efforts. That was, of course, with the exception of the Zero-G Basketball Court. To my complete dismay, Ellie had proven herself to be an insurmountable foe when it came to zero-g basketball.

The Engineering Deck had already been mostly restored, for obvious reasons, by the Titan Station Cleanup Crews. Thus, it had hardly taken even a week to finish the repairs to the deck with the assistance of the repair slip personnel. The station crew had been understandably hesitant to fill the _Ishimura_ 's massive fuel tank. However, to my surprise, Ellie's family authorized the request and, after nearly an entire day of refueling, the Planet Cracker's fuel reservoir had been filled to its maximum capacity for the first time since 2508.

The Flight Deck had been restored though the EarthGov Gunship was claimed by the salvage crews. However, a vessel similar to the USG _Kellion_ had been docked in its place. The Cargo Hold had been inspected and found to be completely empty. The wreckage of the crashed EarthGov Gunship in the auxiliary bay had been removed and the hull breach had been patched.

The station did not have much in the way of crop plants to restore the lifeless Hydroponics Deck but Ellie did manage to get a hold of a surprising number of mature marijuana and poppy seed plants as well as a few mature crop plants. With only the two of us, the need for a large food crop was less than the need for an oxygen production crop. With the deck's systems repaired and now fully-operational, and with the new plant life firmly rooted into their new home, the Planet Cracker was now capable of being self-sustaining for long periods of time once again.

With the _Ishimura_ 's restoration as complete as it ever was going to be considering the circumstances, I had informed my partner about my theory concerning the Marker Signal. I replied, "I think it could work. The Markers have to be receiving the signal from somewhere. If we can isolate it and then triangulate where it is coming from, we might find the source of the Markers and find a way to stop the signal before it can unleash a Necromorph Outbreak again."

She nodded slightly as she thought for a moment. Then, she asked, "So, how do we isolate it?"

I sighed and then admitted, "I have no idea."

Ellie stated confidently with her British-accented tone, "Surely somebody does."

I replied, "Well, yeah, but not someone that would be willing to help us. Not to mention that we would have to be near an active Marker in order to try to isolate the signal." However, I paused as I thought of something. While the Aegis VII Marker and Titan Station Marker had both been destroyed, both of them had been within the scanning range of a battery of sensors that reported to a certain A.I. of a certain Planet Cracker that had been present during their respective Incidents. I said, "Hold on, I have an idea."

I deactivated my RIG's comlink and then looked around the seemingly deserted and dark Crow's Nest of the Planet Cracker. The repair slip's dimly illuminated interior shrouded the slumbering giant in a cloak of darkness due to the early morning hours and lack of on-duty personnel. Shattering the silence, I called out, " _Ishimura_ , what is the integrity of the Computer Core Archives?"

Seconds later, the holographic projector powered to life and the transparent three-dimensional orange image of a young woman that was clad in a tight-fitting CEC officer's uniform appeared before me. _Ishimura_ 's A.I. looked at me as she replied with a voice that sounded disturbingly similar to Nicole, "Computer Core Archive Integrity is at sixty-five percent."

I inquired, "Can you access the data from 2508?"

The holographic projection smiled in a creepy manner before the A.I. asked with a taunting tone, "Feeling nostalgic this morning, Isaac?"

I asked, "Can you access the data?"

She smiled once again before informing me, "The crew personnel records, the ship's log, and all records related to the Aegis VII Incident were forcibly removed from the Archives by EarthGov Personnel."

I felt severely disappointed until she continued in a proud, mischievous tone, "However, I can still access the files."

Confused and relieved, I asked, "How?"

She explained, "The EarthGov Teams forcibly removed the files from the Archive Library's Memory Banks, but they did not know that I was still active when they boarded the ship to destroy the evidence and retrieve the Marker Shards that remained. I am not centralized in the mainframe. How do you think I was able to assist you despite Agent Daniels's hijacking of the Computer Core? I am the ship, for lack of a better description. Before they could access the Archive, I copied the data and then dispersed it all throughout the ship."

I smiled slightly beneath my copper helmet for a moment and then said, "I need you to analyze the ship's sensory data during the Aegis VII Incident and the Titan Station Outbreak."

She closed her eyes and then, moments later, asked, "And what am I looking for, Isaac?"

I explained, "A frequency…a signal…originating from somewhere in space and being sent to the Markers."

She shook her head as she said, "I do not see a signal that is common to both incidents…wait…" She paused for a moment as she cocked her head to the left. Then, she continued, "…what is that?"

Leaning in and putting both of my armored hands on either side of the projector, I asked, "What did you find?"

She opened her eyes and then informed me, "There is an electromagnetic signal common to both incidents. I did not see it at first because of background interference."

Feeling cautiously optimistic, I asked, "Can you tell where it is coming from?"

She nodded as she replied, "Give me a minute." Then, she closed her eyes and began to sing in a creepy tone while she swayed slightly. I admittedly became unnerved as her haunting tone echoed throughout the deathly silent ship as she sang.

 _Ring around the rosie,_

 _Pocket full of posies,_

 _Ashes…Ashes,_

 _We…all…fall…down._

 _Ring around the rosie,_

 _What do you suppose we,_

 _Can do to fight the darkness,_

 _In…which…we…drown?_

 _Ring around the rosie,_

 _This evil thing…it knows me,_

 _Lost ones…around me,_

 _I…can't…fall…down._

Then, she opened her eyes and informed me, "I was able to triangulate the approximate location of the signal's source using Redshift and Blueshift wavelength pattern formulas but we need a triangulation sequence in order to triangulate the exact location. Also, the location I approximated…it…well…"

I inquired, "Yes?"

 _Ishimura_ explained, "There is nothing there according to Standard Space Charts. According to Deep Space Mining Charts, the area is a Dead Zone. However, according to the privately-owned CEC Charts, there are several locations that have gravitational fields of sufficient strength to affect nearby stars. These locations were marked as probable system-sized collections of planet-sized masses and scheduled to be scanned using Deep Space Drones to estimate their resource yield. However, upon the discovery of Aegis VII, these plans were cancelled in favor of devoting company resources to the harvesting of the precious resource-rich planet."

"Oh my god, you found the source of the Marker Signal?"

I turned to see that Ellie had returned. Her new, artificial replacement eye was noticeable because it did not match her other eye. As my Advanced Suit-clad partner moved closer to where I was standing, _Ishimura_ addressed her, "Good morning, Ellie."

Still not accustomed to the ship's A.I. speaking to her, Ellie replied, "Good morning you creepy little computer program." Then, as she stood next to me, she asked, "What was that about space charts? Did you manage to triangulate the source of the signal?"

I explained, "The _Ishimura_ was present during the Aegis VII Incident and the Titan Station Incident. She was able to find a common signal and approximate its source. However, we don't have the exact location and it would be too risky to blindly shock there."

Ellie nodded and then said, "So…we need to find a way to precisely trace the signal."

I nodded and then added, "Also, even if we did have an exact location, we have no idea what will be waiting for us. It would be a suicide mission with just the three of us."

Ellie suggested, "Maybe we can enlist some of the mercenaries here. Everyone here has a reason to want to fight EarthGov…"

"Like hell you are!" We were startled as Ellie's brother barged into the room armed with an EDF Marine Corps-issued plasma pistol that was rather large and vaguely resembled a compact version of the Seeker Rifle. The former EDF Recon Marine raised the sidearm at me, though this caused him noticeable physical pain as he winced when he did so.

Ellie objected as she said, "Jack, no! You know that you shouldn't be…"

The hardened soldier barked, "I can still fight, damn it!" Then, glaring at me, he growled, "You! Who the fuck do you think you are dragging my sister along on your suicidal pipe dreams? You want to get yourself killed? You go right ahead but leave my sister alone!"

However, shocking both of us, Ellie walked forward and then punched the large and heavily-built man in the side of his scarred face with enough force to stagger him. As he recovered, Ellie barked, "I am not a child! If you want to hide, that is your business but I am not going to run away!"

He shot back, "I am not hiding!"

Pointing her right index finger at him, my partner yelled, "Yes you are! Jack you have been hiding ever since…"

He growled as he lowered his pistol, "Enough…" Looking at both of us, he then continued, "You two may be willing to endanger everyone else in order to get your selfish revenge but I will think about the people around me. This scrap pile seems to be in working order. So…pack your shit and get out…take your troubles with you."

My partner was silent for a moment as a stunned expression appeared on her tanned face. Then, the look was replaced by one of absolute fury as she said, "You unbelievable coward! You're going to kick your own sister out before you man up and face Earth Government! What happened to Captain Langford? The man that stood up for what was right even though it branded him a traitor? Huh? What happened to that fearless Recon Marine?"

Her brother silently looked at her as an expression of crushing shame appeared on his face. Finally, he said with a tired tone, "I'm sorry…Ellie. That man is gone…this broken coward is all that is left."

Ellie's expression softened and, seconds later, she said, "Jack, come with us."

Jack and I both asked her simultaneously in bewilderment, "What?"

My partner asked in response, "Well, are you really keen to entrust your sister's life to a nerd? Wouldn't you rather entrust her life to a Recon Marine?"

Jack looked at his sister for a moment before he admitted, "You're right. How can I entrust your life to an engineer? Besides, a change of scenery is always nice." He turned to leave and finished, "I'll be back with my gear at 0700 hours. We should leave before the station crew arrives at 0800 hours."

Before I could inform him that we actually did not have a destination in mind, Jack left the Crow's Nest. I informed Ellie, "We don't even know where we are going."

 _Ishimura_ informed us, "I have a suggestion." We both looked at the holographic image of the Planet Cracker's A.I. as she explained, "I have been monitoring EarthGov communication traffic by piggybacking off a local pirated network. It seems that all is not well within their ranks. Their attempt to implicate the Unitologists in the destruction of Titan Station has backfired. Public opinion of the church has increased due to sympathy while public opinion of EarthGov has been steadily decreasing due to mistrust."

She paused briefly as she showed us various graphs concerning public opinion and news report images depicting growing civil unrest on multiple colonies. Then, she continued, "EarthGov and the Unitologists are on the brink of open conflict. The victor is unclear at this time. EarthGov is more prepared in the short term but the church has vastly superior resources and devotion among its members, thus, long term, the church is the more likely victor. In the meantime, both groups are becoming increasingly focused on the Markers. Based on what I have been hearing, there is a completely manufactured Marker or one that is in the final stages of construction that is equivalent in size to the Site 12 Marker or larger in every major colony affiliated with EarthGov."

I felt nauseous once again as my body suddenly felt frigid as I processed what the _Ishimura_ 's A.I. had revealed to me. A Marker the size of the one that I had built and then destroyed on Titan Station was located in every major Earth Colony. Whatever intelligence was behind the Markers had the entire human race dead to rights. Quarantine would be useless once the domino effect started. With EarthGov seemingly oblivious to the impending cataclysm and with the Unitologists seemingly bent on bringing about the realization of their twisted goals, all that it would take to set off the chain reaction was a single spark.

 _Ishimura_ continued, "Which, brings me to my suggestion. Both groups have been monitoring individuals that have documented connections to the Markers such as yourselves for some time. One individual of high importance is a woman by the name of Lexine Weller; formerly Lexine Murdoch. According to my personnel files, she was a grade two surveyor on the Aegis VII Colony before the outbreak and, aside from you Isaac, she and crew member Gabe Weller are the only survivors of the Second Aegis VII Incident. Moreover, she is the third known survivor of the Titan Station Incident including yourselves."

Shocked, I asked, "Do they know where she is?"

The Planet Cracker's A.I. smiled before she replied, "They do not but I think I do."


	5. Chapter 5: Lexine

Ch. 5: Lexine

* * *

A.N.:

Hey everyone!

I am terribly sorry for how long it has taken me to update this story. I have been busy with school and my other stories.

Anyway,

I had several scenarios for this chapter and it took me a bit to go with this one. I know Dead Space is very action oriented but this story might be a little slow in the build up to the heavy action segments.

Anyway,

I hope the wait was worth it!

Read and review if you want.

I wish you all Happy Holidays!

* * *

With my own rapid heartbeat pounding in my ears and with the digits of my gloved right hand firmly clamped around the pistol grip of my Plasma Cutter, I cautiously made my way down the dark, foreboding passageway before me. The pipe-lined, metal-skinned hallway of the interior of the _Ishimura_ 's Engineering Deckwould have been pitch black had it not been for the built-in flashlight of my tool, which I was holding at the ready before me with the three blue laser beams traveling through the air directly out in front of the tool's business end. My surroundings were unnaturally silent as I made my way to the door at the far end of the space. My heavy footfalls caused by the copper-plated boots of my Level 5 Engineering RIG echoed through the hall as I slowly advanced towards the closed door that was only occasionally visible because of the malfunctioning florescent lights around it.

Because of my limited field of view caused by the helmet of my suit, I was straining my other senses as far as they could go to try to make up for my decreased vision. I forced myself to ignore the hushed whispers that seemed to be coming from the vents of the air ventilation ducts that ran along the ceiling of the ship's corridors. Naturally, I had investigated them the first few times I had heard them thinking that there were survivors on-board. However, I had found that I never got any closer to the source of the whispers and had decided that they were simply my exhausted mind playing tricks on me. Even the Planet Cracker seemed to be taunting me with occasional metallic bangs as the aging vessel settled.

When I reached the middle of the hallway, my vision was temporarily overwhelmed as a sudden power surge caused the corridor's florescent lights to flood the area in bright light for a few seconds before the tubes exploded in near simultaneous clouds of flying glass and vapor. I was left in complete darkness once again and I felt nauseous as I soon heard loud inhuman growls and the telltale bangs that were clearly coming from the ship's ventilation network. The maze-like passage of exposed machinery and jutting pipes was too dangerous to try to navigate in the dark while trying to flee from the Necromorphs so I had to remain where I was and wait for the power to be restored. I began to scan my surroundings with my tool's built-in flashlight while straining my ears to try to hear the approaching abominations.

A soft noise originating from behind me caused me to wheel around while my right index finger began to tighten its grip on my cutter's trigger in preparation to fire upon my assailant. I could feel the adrenaline surging through me as time seemed to slow to a crawl. 'Aim for the limbs. Aim for the limbs. Aim for the limbs,' I repeated over and over in my mind almost like a mantra. However, I was met by the sight of a completely empty hallway.

Despite my confusion I refused to let my guard down as I began to slowly inch my way forward. The sound that I had heard had been too distinct to ignore and it had certainly not been a natural noise from the Planet Cracker. The sudden absence of the sounds of the Necromorphs was also too obvious to mean anything other than they were mere moments away pouncing. Suddenly, I realized the catastrophic error I had made in investigating the noise. Alarm bells went off in my head but it was too late and I let out an agonized cry as the Necromorph's razor-sharp organic spear penetrated through my back and exited out of the center of my chest.

Spots appeared in my vision while the inside of my helmet's visor became covered with my own blood as I began to involuntarily cough as the fluid began to fill my lungs. Rallying my rapidly deteriorating body, I attempted to wheel around and defend myself. My efforts were in vain, however, as the second spear-like appendage was mercilessly thrust through my right shoulder. I became disoriented and filled with confusion as I felt my body collapse in a bloody heap onto the hard metal floor. Just as I managed to lift my head and look at the horribly twisted and disgusting body of the Necromorph towering over me, it thrust its spear-like right arm towards my face.

* * *

I let out a cry as I bolted upright in my new sleeping quarters aboard the partially refitted _Ishimura_. The three of us had taken one of the officer's quarters on the Crew Deck and I had decided to get some rest while we were traveling to where the Planet Cracker's A.I. had claimed to be where we would likely find Lexine Weller. The trip would not have normally taken very long due to the vessel's Shockpoint Drive. However, as _Ishimura_ put it, "The facility's exact location is unknown because it is not tethered and the last recorded set of coordinates are several years old. I will have to shock into the general area and then locate the facility manually."

Still shaking and feeling as if my heart was going to burst out my chest, I attempted to calm myself as I looked around the moderately-sized room. The larger room beyond the clear walls of my quarters was illuminated by bright florescent lights that created twisted shadows inside my room. The eerie silence that preceded my death in my nightmare filled the area around me in the otherwise empty Crew Deck as I finally began to calm down. When I did, I became aware of the smell of something burning and turned to see that I had fired my Plasma Cutter in my sleep. It had been sitting on the nearby nightstand but now it was firmly clasped in my right hand with its safety off and its blue aiming beams slicing through the darkness of the room.

Looking at the clear right wall of my quarters, I saw a vertical scorch mark at approximately the shoulder height of an average-sized man along its surface. I grimaced slightly as I realized that my body had instinctively grabbed my Plasma Cutter and fired in the general area of where one of a Necromorph's arms would have been all while I had been asleep. Sighing softly, I lowered my tool while simultaneously returning it to its standby mode.

I glanced at the small digital clock that was on the bedside table before I remembered how pointless localized time was without another one to compare it to when it came to traveling in space. Deciding that it was not worth trying to get any sleep, I turned and then lowered my legs over the side of my bed. I was still groggy and lowered my head for a moment as I rubbed my eyes with my gloved left hand.

"Did my suggestion not help, Captain?"

Jerking my head back up, I saw the shimmering holographic projection of _Ishimura_ 's A.I. standing to my left about an arm's length away with a concerned expression on her face.

Adjusting the five heavy copper rib-shaped plates covering my right shoulder, I replied, "It was worth a shot."

I had been hiding my sleeping problems from Ellie but apparently nothing escaped the notice of the Planet Cracker's A.I. One of her responsibilities was to attend to the welfare of the crew and she took her role of being a caretaker very seriously. Indeed, it had her aid that had allowed the ill-fated crew of the Aegis VII Incident to survive for several hours with the very last of the crew still being alive when I arrived with the repair team. Within roughly the same amount of time, Titan Station had been completely wiped out even with hundreds of EarthGov soldiers being stationed there.

Upon learning about my sleeping problems, she had suggested that I should wear my Level 5 Engineering RIG, minus the helmet, while I slept. Wearing it would, theoretically, give me a subconscious sense of safety and allow me to sleep without having to endure nightmares caused by my experiences at Aegis VII and Titan Station. However, it was clear that there were some things that the heavy copper plates and self-sealing suit could not protect me from.

After adjusting the copper plates, I inquired, "Have you found what you were looking for?"

 _Ishimura_ 's A.I. smiled proudly and then replied, "Affirmative, captain. I manifested inside your cabin to wake you up and info you."

I nodded and then laid my tool down beside me on the bed before standing. I turned to face the bedside table to see the four narrow slits of the faceplate of my copper helmet looking back at me. Reaching down, I grabbed my helmet and then, after casually turning it over, lowered it down over my head. Once again, all I could see was the limited view that the four slits allowed. The projected blue glow of the four slits was faintly visible against objects in whatever direction I looked in as I turned and retrieved my Plasma Cutter from where I had laid it on the bed.

 _Ishimura_ 's A.I. informed me, "The probability of encountering hostile working environments on your trip to the Bridge is minimal. I would not recommend…"

She paused as I silently looked at her. A look of guilt appeared on her partially translucent face before she flashed a small smile and then remarked, "I understand. I will await your arrival on the Bridge, captain."

The projected form of the vessel's A.I. then vanished from view and I was left completely alone in my cabin. I gripped my Plasma Cutter firmly in my right hand and then exited the dark room. The sounds of my steady breathing and heavy footsteps were the only things that interrupted the eerie, haunting silence of the Crew Deck as I made my way to the Tram Station. As I walked, I began to think about how we should go about trying to make contact with Lexine.

Given the traumatic experiences that the former C.E.C. surveyor had gone through, I doubted that she would be very trusting of anyone, let alone a group of strangers that suddenly appeared on-board the Planet Cracker that she had likely nearly lost her life several times in. Even in the incredibly unlikely event that she had known Nicole or might somehow recognize my name for another reason, it would be hard to convince her that we did not intend to harm her. However, we had to convince her to trust us or at least convince her that she was safer aboard _Ishimura_ than she was trying to stay hidden from EarthGov and the Unitologists on her own.

Reaching the main lobby of the Crew Deck that connected to the Tram Station, I rode the small elevator platform down to the first floor. The ritualistically sacrificed crewmembers with bags covering their heads were, obviously, long gone but, as I walked towards the Tram Station, I suddenly paused as the faint sound of the creepy, haunting melody of that accursed nursery rhyme briefly filled the air. I raised my Plasma Cutter as I tried to focus on where the sound was coming from but, as soon as I did, the sound disappeared as if it had never been there at all. Bewildered, I turned to look in every direction before giving up and, with a slight shrug, I continued towards the nearby Tram Station.

I certainly did not believe in anything related to the paranormal but I had experienced several strange occurrences since I had started spending an extended period of time on-board the Planet Cracker. Of course, the vessel was not "haunted" but I could not identify the source of the strange occurrences as of yet. The Planet Cracker was more than sixty years old, which was almost unheard of for any type of starship let alone an industrial workhorse that had been under near continuous use since she was commissioned. A vessel of her size and age would naturally make unusual noises. However, the sounds that I had been hearing were definitely not natural and, if I did not know any better, I would even be tempted to think that they were "echoes" of the Planet Cracker's past.

As I entered the station and began to walk to the re-purposed industrial platform that had been modified to work on the ship's internal monorail-style tram network, I began to wonder if it was all in my own mind or, more disturbing in its own way, it was being caused by _Ishimura_ 's A.I. While all starships of sufficient size had their own A.I., I had never encountered one as unusual as her. The A.I. had been "alive" since the day that power first surged through the Planet Cracker after her construction was complete. In order to allow her to stay up to date with new cultural trends and be "approachable" to the continuously changing crew, part of her programming allowed her to modify her own behavior in response to changes in the world around her.

It was not particularly unique to the _Ishimura_ but most A.I.'s were not expected to last more than a few years before there was noticeable deterioration and they had to be replaced. The long-term consequences of allowing an artificial intelligence program to be able to autonomously learn and adapt was unknown. More importantly, there was not any research into how a self-aware A.I. responded to traumatic experiences. Considering the unimaginable trauma that the _Ishiumra_ had experienced both during her days as a Planet Cracker as horrific and grisly deaths were guaranteed on a vessel of her class due to the nature of what they were built to do, and the nightmares that she had been through ever since her involvement in the Aegis VII Incident, there was definite cause for concern about her stability.

I had learned that after she had witnessed her entire crew being massacred despite protecting them as best she could with her increasingly damaged systems, she had focused on helping my team. She eventually deduced what Kendra's true motivations were and that her plan was to take the Red Marker to Earth. However, with the agent in her computer core, she had to play ignorant and undermine her from the shadows.

When Kendra regained possession of the Marker after I had placed it on its pedestal, she took matters into her own hands by deactivating her gravity tethers, which were the only thing still holding the tectonic load in place since the Marker's EMP disabled the ones in the colony, so that the massive section of the planet would kill the government agent and prevent the Red Marker from leaving the system upon slamming back down into the colony.

The Planet Cracker then miraculously survived the near complete destruction of the planet below. However, with my departure, she was completely alone. Knowing that government forces would likely soon arrive to cover up the incident and that it would mean her destruction if they found her, she had attempted to get as far away from the area as possible. However, the extensive damage that she had sustained proved to be too much for her laboring systems to bear. She could not even make it beyond the Cygnus System before her systems began to go offline.

Unable to maneuver and unable to even defend herself after her ADS went offline, the Planet Cracker drifted aimlessly through the Cygnus System. With no other options, she put herself into a kind of hibernation to conserve what little power she still had. Luck was on her side as sometime later her remaining online sensors detected the event horizon of a shockring. However, with only reserve power and limited auxiliary systems online, the only way that _Ishimura_ had been able to enter it was by purging the majority of the remaining oxygen on-board in controlled bursts to crudely propel herself into it. She had no way of knowing what was waiting on the other side but she knew that it was her only chance to reach a port.

Fortunately, fate apparently still had plans for the "Savior of Humanity" and, instead of being destroyed, her heavy hull weathered the collision with an unidentified vessel that had been part of an illegal mining operation. After the miners had boarded her and located the remaining shards of the Aegis VII Marker, they turned on each other as a result of the marker signal and their own greed. Earth Defense Force teams and a second mysterious group arrived soon afterward and briefly fought against the reanimated Necromorphs and the remaining miners but, ultimately, the only survivor was one of the miners who managed to escape just as several EarthGov vessels shocked in. From there, she had been towed to Titan Station where CEC retook possession of her and then, out of desperation, began to restore her to her former glory. However, her restoration and modernization had not been completed before the outbreak started.

I boarded the modified tramcar and the moved towards the front. To say that one was taking their life in their own hands when using the new car was an understatement. The skeletal frame allowed one to see the internal mechanisms through the patchwork of remaining metal plates that comprised the platform that the passengers stood on. While it was roughly the same size of the purpose-built tramcars that had originally been installed on-board the massive mining vessel, the derelict tramcar was a far cry from the subway car-style transports that had once graced the interior of the Planet Cracker.

Upon reaching the front of the car, I found the control panel that, despite having a flickering display as it struggled to remain operational, had a list of the stations located throughout the massive vessel. I selected the option for the Bridge Deck and, letting out an irritatingly loud mechanical screech, the tram began to travel along the track. As I waited for my arrival at the station of the Bridge Deck, my thoughts returned to my suspicions regarding _Ishimura_ 's A.I.

Since she was self-aware and could act completely on her own accord, it would be incredibly dangerous to get on her bad side. Not only was she our only refuge from the madness that was slowly spreading throughout Earth and its colonies and our most powerful ally, but she also had a devastating "ace in the hole". The self-destruct failsafe, which I had permanently disabled in fear of EarthGov remotely accessing it, was not the only means by which the Planet Cracker could destroy herself. The battery of gravity tethers powered by the new gravity centrifuge not only allowed the _Ishimura_ to rip apart entire planets but were also capable of something far more destructive.

Gravity tethers of sufficient size and strength could create black holes if they either malfunctioned due to being damaged or if, for example, a certain A.I. decided to end it all and overloaded one. Such a fate had befallen one of _Ishimura_ 's sisters, three smaller vessels, and the nearby mining colony when one of the Planet Cracker's gravity tethers malfunctioned. The incident, known commonly as the Wanat Disaster, was a tragic reminder of just how dangerous the practice of planetary mining was and was nearly enough to turn public opinion against it. Had it not been for _Ishimura_ 's successful mining operation that resulted in the most lucrative and resource-rich haul in the history of planet cracking despite what was described as "inhospitable conditions that many had believed to be insurmountable" soon afterwards, and CEC's very public reforms to their standards and procedures, it was very likely that the incident would have been the end of deep space mining and possibly planetary mining as a whole.

However, while CEC modernized the other Planet Crackers of their fleet with the improved gravity tethers, _Ishimura_ was almost always in demand and replacing her battery of otherwise completely functional tethers would have grounded the vital Planet Cracker for nearly a year and cost the company billions in lost revenue. For that reason, she still had her original tethers that did not have any safeguards. She had definitely been affected by what she had experienced but we could not shut her down. Something the size and complexity of a Planet Cracker required an A.I. because otherwise there would be far too many systems to monitor and operate simultaneously. In addition, as she had already informed us, her program was not centralized which made shutting her down nearly impossible. For now, no matter how potentially dangerous she was, we had no choice but to trust her.

The painfully loud screeching of the tramcar's braking mechanism tore me from my thoughts as I arrived at the Bridge Deck Tram Station. After the car finally came to a complete stop, the ship's intercom announced, "Welcome to the Bridge Deck." Remembering to avoid the missing sections of car's floor, I departed the tram and then began to make my way to the bridge.

The eerie, unnatural emptiness that plagued the Crew Deck was just as strong on the Bridge Deck as I walked past the security checkpoint completely unimpeded and entered the massive open main floor of the bridge that had multiple stations running along its perimeter with each one reporting the status of one of the ship's systems to their respective officer who was now long gone. Meanwhile, the seemingly infinite expanse of deep space beyond the large windows that comprised the majority of the exterior walls of the empty bridge only served to further enhance the sense of human loss.

As I was riding the elevator down to the Captain's Nest, I began to hear Ellie and her brother as they were having a conversation inside the nest.

Jack was saying, "…you even trust him? Do you not see the look in his eyes?"

Ellie retorted, "The day I turn to you for judgment about someone's personality will be a sad day indeed."

The veteran soldier insisted, "I'm serious Ellie! There is something off about that guy."

My partner stubbornly replied with her British-accented voice, "Isaac may be a bit strange sometimes but he isn't dangerous."

I could not help but smile briefly as the irony of their conversation did not escape me. It was natural for a group of individuals that had been forced to work together in extraordinary circumstances to be suspicious of one another. Ellie and I had seen more than enough of the nightmare caused by the Markers to know what was at stake and we had been fairly open with each other so there was a great deal of trust between us. Jack was a former Recon Marine and was only here to look out for his sister so his suspicion of me was warranted. In addition, based on the vague details that I had learned about his past, he had sufficient reason to be very slow to trust anyone let alone a complete stranger that showed up with his sister one day.

As I walked past the escape pods, I began to remove my helmet. Most less heavy duty full body and even some military grade RIG's had a helmet visor that could be raised up on hinges to allow the user to get an unobstructed view. In addition, the helmets of some RIG's were able to fold and unfold from around the user's head in a manner similar to a jigsaw puzzle. However, most robust and heavy duty helmets such as the one for my Level 5 Engineering RIG had to be manually removed.

Somehow ignorant of my presence despite how loud the elevator's badly worn mechanisms were, Jack continued, "Bullshit, he is hiding something…guy barely has a scratch on him despite everything he has survived. He's no engineer."

Ellie started to answer her brother but she stopped as I entered the room with my RIG's helmet held against my left side just above my waist. Ellie was standing over by the Gravity Tether control panel on the far left wall. She had her Advance RIG's helmet unfolded inside her suit and gave me a slight smile as I entered the room.

Meanwhile, Jack had been standing near my partner with his weathered, dented rifle, which appeared to be an assault version of the Seeker Rifle, holstered across his back by a worn black strap, his sidearm holstered to his left thigh, and a large knife with a curved blade that was sheathed diagonally across his right chest. While he had been wearing an old EDF uniform when we had first met, his actual uniform was an old Advanced Soldier RIG that was almost identical to the ones that had been worn by the marines aboard the USM _Valor_.

However, unlike the armor worn by _Valor_ 's marines that consisted of dark grey fatigues with white body armor plates and a vaguely skull-like white plated helmet with two small visors where the wear's eyes were, Jack's RIG was noticeably bulkier with thicker white armor plates and a few additional utility pouches around the waist. Where the _Valor's_ identification mark had been on the left chest there was a faded image of what appeared to be a black dagger with a red snake wrapped around it. In addition to the signs of extensive use in brutal combat such as multiple deep dents and chips on the armor plates, there was evidence of fire damage that corresponded to the scars on Jack's face.

The former Recon Marine's heavier armor was understandable considering the nature of the assignments that they were given. With a life expectancy of only thirty, the Recon Marines were reserved for incredibly dangerous, if not suicidal, missions where failure would be catastrophic for Earth and her colonies. I did not know for certain if any had been aboard the USM _Valor_ during the Aegis VII Incident. Most likely, they had either been in too few number to make much of a difference as their lesser Marine brethren were quickly slaughtered around them or they had been the group sent in to clean up after it had become clear to EarthGov that Kendra and the USM _Valor_ had failed their mission.

When I had entered the room, he had been holding his helmet like I was, but, upon seeing me, he placed it back over his head. He looked back at Ellie and quickly remarked with his voice being slightly modified by his helmet, "Just keep what I said in mind."

He did not even wait to hear her response before he turned and then looked at me from beneath the icy blue glow of his helmet's visors as he walked to stand against the back left wall of the Captain's Nest. I met his gaze until he was out of sight and then looked at Ellie.

The stubborn brunette smiled slightly before she asked, "Did you get much sleep, Isaac?"

I nodded and then replied, "A little."

Then, I turned to look outside the _Ishimura_. Though it was clear that the Planet Cracker had indeed found what she was looking for, I still asked, "So, this is where you think she is?"

Before the massive mining vessel were the remains of what had likely been an Earth-sized planet that had been harvested by CNC. It was reduced to a shard roughly a quarter the size of the Moon. Anchored to the shard was a small space station that was about six hundred yards long and consisted of little more than a single structure and a group of small landing pads for shuttles. I could not be certain due to the distance between the Planet Cracker and the small outpost if it was truly abandoned or not. As far as I could see, this station was in the middle of nowhere and too small to be able to be self-sufficient.

As she cut her engines to little more than a crawl and continued to approach the station, _Ishimura_ 's A.I. manifested out of the holographic projector in front of us. The somewhat unnecessarily attractive woman nodded before she replied with a voice that sounded eerily like Nicole, "Yes, Captain. This outpost was used by CEC as an emergency station that was to be used in the event that a vessel's crew was forced to abandon ship as a refuge until the company could send rescue."

As I continued to study the station, I asked, "What makes you think she is here specifically?"

 _Ishimura_ responded, "Process of elimination. Lexine is being hunted by both EarthGov and the church. She is pregnant and needed somewhere to go where she could be safe. This station was one of many maintained by CEC but this one in particular was officially decommissioned two years ago due to its distance from the nearest shipping lane and the company's increasingly dire financial state. However, these stations were built to remain operational with minimal maintenance for up to ten years. In addition, this station is just within the maximum range of a small shuttle's capability to reach if one uses Titan Station as the starting point. I took a calculated risk and it has paid off."

She paused for a moment and then continued, "My sensors are detecting the faint trace of the outpost's automated distress signal still being broadcasted. Someone tried to sabotage the communication array's equipment to keep it from broadcasting a distress message to the company but they did not completely succeed…not that it matters because this station can broadcast all it wants to but no one is listening anymore. I am almost detecting a shuttle on one of the landing pads. However, the shuttle's power is depleted so I cannot remotely access it to confirm its origins."

From behind me, Jack commented with a bored tone, "Could just be a chop crew. These backwater stations are prime targets for the vultures."

Ellie asked him with a bit of amusement in her accented voice, "With a dead shuttle?"

The veteran replied with a flat tone, "Just saying…deep space isn't a good place to take chances."

I asked _Ishimura_ , "Can you hail the station?"

The Planet Cracker's A.I. shook her head before she said, "No, Captain. As I already informed you, someone sabotaged the station's communication equipment. However…"

I inquired, "What?"

The holographic woman paused for a moment as if she was thinking about something. Then, she said, "RIG number: 784283…this is USG _Ishimura_ , please respond."

When there was no response, she smiled before she said with a taunting singsong tone, "Lexine…I know you hear me. I see your RIG. Come on now, let's be adult about this."

Moments later, a static-filled screen materialized to the right of the holographic model of _Ishimura_ 's A.I. It took a few seconds for the static to clear. When it did, I saw a Caucasian woman with short black hair looking back at us. She looked as though she had not slept very well in quite a while and her hair was unkempt. With a hollow, exhausted but still Irish-accented voice, Lexine addressed us, "I know you're just some kind of hallucination. Now, please, leave me alone."

Trying to keep her on the line, I said, "Hey, wait! Lexine, right? My name is Isaac Clarke. I just want to talk…"

Her eyes lit up for a second before she said with a worried tone, "Clarke? Wait, you're…you're that crazy guy on the Wanted Posters that I saw at Titan Station."

Behind me, Jack commented, "Told you…the eyes never lie."

Ellie barked, "Shut up, Jack! Isaac was the one trying to destroy the Marker and EarthGov was trying to stop him."

Apparently now completely confused, Lexine asked, "Wait…destroy the Marker? What?"

I explained, "I was exposed to the Red Marker on Aegis VII. EarthGov found me and then used the blueprint it imprinted in my mind to create their own copies. The outbreak on The Sprawl was caused by the Marker that they created inside the Government Sector. I managed to destroy it but doing so caused a critical failure in the reactor, which destroyed Titan Station."

There was a brief moment of silence as the former surveyor seemed to study me. After a moment, a sudden look of realization appeared that quickly became an expression of guilt. She then asked with a knowing, sorrowful tone, "You were on that maintenance ship that shocked in… _Kellion_ …right?"

I nodded as I replied, "I am a systems engineer and I volunteered to be part of the emergency repair team that was dispatched to the _Ishimura_."

Lexine said apologetically, "We were escaping the ship and tried to contact you but the debris field prevented us from getting a clear signal. We were in no condition to go back. Your…your team?"

I shook my head and then replied, "No, they didn't make it. I survived and tried to return the marker to the planet but it emitted an EMP that fried the tethers. I managed to escape just before the tectonic load hit the colony. I'm still not entirely sure about what happened after that but EarthGov found me and spent the next few years digging through my head at Titan Station."

There was another moment of silence before she asked, "What do you want, Isaac?"

I replied, "Actually, we are here for you."

Apparently shocked that we had come all this way for her, Lexine asked, "Me? Why?"

I explained, "EarthGov perfected the blueprint for creating Markers. According to what I learned inside Government Sector, there is a large Marker on every major colony under their control. What happened at Aegis VII and The Sprawl will happen again and, once things are set in motion, there won't be anything anyone can do to stop it."

I paused for a moment and then, after sending Lexine copies of the logs that I found in the Government Sector of Titan Station, I continued, "You have seen it for yourself. You and I both know how helpless and unprepared people are going to be against the Necromorphs. Both EarthGov and the Unitologists are being manipulated by whatever intelligence is behind the Markers. We are among the few that have survived the outbreaks. It is up to us to keep their plan from succeeding and killing all of us."

Meanwhile, Lexine's expression had gone from stunned disbelief of just how endangered humanity was due to the combination of EarthGov's blind ambitions and Unitology's blind devotion to their beliefs to an expression that was a combination of fear and anger. I felt guilty for dragging the poor woman and her unborn child into the middle of all of this. However, we needed her and I certainly did not want to leave her to either starve or suffer unimaginable torture at the hands of EarthGov.

I assured her, "I wouldn't have asked you to go through it all again if it wasn't necessary. We need your help and trust me when I say that you and your child are better off dead than being in the custody of EarthGov."

The former surveyor seemed to finally be convinced as she nodded and then said, "Well…anything beats being stranded here."

I nodded and then wondered out loud, "Hmm…it might be worth trying to salvage whatever is left inside the station to outfit the _Ishimura_."

However, before anyone could say anything, the Planet Cracker's A.I. commented, "I would strongly advise against sticking around here for much longer, Captain."

I let out an inquisitive mumble and she explained, "If I was able to find Lexine, chances are that EarthGov will not be far behind. I am the artificial intelligence program of a commercial mining vessel that is more than sixty years old after all."

As she started to walk out of the room, Ellie informed me, "I'll go and pick her up in the shuttle so we can get out of here."

I nodded before I said, "Alright, be careful." My partner smiled slightly and gave me a slight nod in return before she walked past me. I was somewhat surprised when Jack did not follow his sister. Instead, the veteran soldier continued to lean against the wall to the left of the exit with his gaze seemingly locked on me. I ignored him as I looked back at the holographic projection in front of me.

Lexine had already cut the feed from her RIG and was presumably making her way to the shuttle landing pads. The image being projected had returned to being an overview of the area around the _Ishimura_. For a moment, the Captain's Nest was completely silent as I felt Jack continuing to stare at me. Finally, I could not ignore the glare of the former marine any longer and I said calmly without turning to look at him, "If you have something to say, go ahead and say it."

Jack replied with a cold tone, "You already know what I want to say."

Continuing to look away from him, I said, "I'm just an engineer with a background in the Merchant Marines, Jack. I've got nothing to hide."

He was silent for a moment before he remarked with a tone that made it obvious that he did not believe me, "Whatever you say…"

The holographic image changed into _Ishimura_ 's A.I. as she informed him, "I can provide you with a detailed summary of Isaac's career history prior to his employment aboard me if you need proof."

He let out a short chuckle before he replied, "Not necessary. As I said, whatever you say, Clarke."

There was another moment of silence and then the former marine asked, "So, we've found the girl and she has agreed to join our little merry band of thieves…what now?"

I actually did not know what our next move should be. Now that we had Lexine, we would have to think of a way to ensure that she would be able to safely deliver her baby when the time came. In the meantime, we had to continue our investigation into both the Markers themselves and the electromagnetic signal that they were receiving from an unknown location deep in space. We also had to do so without getting caught in the crossfire between EarthGov and the Unitologists.

After thinking for a moment, I replied, "We cannot stop what is going to happen. It is too late for that. A lot of people are going to die but we can be ready to at least save our species. So, we go after the Markers."

I heard him move to stand next to me on my right. I turned to look at him and found that his cold demeanor had noticeably relaxed as he admitted, "You know, I actually don't know anything about them. So, what the Hell are they?"

I looked back at the holographic woman in front of us and said, " _Ishimura…_ "

She nodded and then, as she held her right hand out in front of her and manifested a small scale model of one of the markers in her right palm, she began, "What we call 'Markers' are double-helix shaped objects of unknown origin and purpose. There are two types of Markers. For the sake of simplicity, we label them as either 'Black' or 'Red' depending upon their color and if they are natural or artificial. Red Markers are not true Markers but instead are artificial copies of the true Marker of extraterrestrial origin known as the 'Black Marker'."

She paused as she manifested a map of the area with the approximate location of where the Black Marker was found along with an image of what the Marker was reported to have looked like before she continued, "This 'Black Marker' was discovered on Earth near the Yucatan Peninsula in 2214. What followed is not entirely known but it is believed that Michael Altman attempted to destroy or at least neutralize the Black Marker when he realized how dangerous it was only to be assassinated by government forces soon afterwards, inadvertently becoming a martyr for a new religion that became known as Unitology."

The images were replaced by one of the Red Marker from Aegis VII before the Planet Cracker's A.I. continued, "Using the data collected from the original Black Marker, at least three copies were created in the remote systems of Cygnus, Gliese, and Proxima Centauri with the believed intentions to either harness the seemingly limitless supply of energy that they emit or possibly to simply study them far from the eyes of the public. However, outbreaks of Necromorphs caused all three sites to be abandoned and the systems designated as off-limits. All research data from the sites was lost along with the Markers until CEC happened upon Aegis VII in the Cygnus System. The planet was rich in rare natural elements so an illegal mining operation commenced during which the dormant Marker was found. This set in motion the events of the Second Aegis VII Incident and everything that has happened since."

Jack inquired with a puzzled tone, "I still don't get it. They are just fancy rocks right? How do they make dead shit come back to life and make people go completely crazy?"

 _Ishimura_ manifested an image that showed a detailed readout of the electromagnetic signal that she had isolated from her sensory data during both outbreaks and an animated model of a Marker receiving the signal as she explained, "The one thing all Markers share in common regardless of origin is this electromagnetic signal. It is this signal that both reanimates dead tissue, which creates what are known as Necromorphs, and causes the mental afflictions of those exposed to it. Those of lesser intelligence only perceive the signal as incomprehensible sounds and images that slowly drive them to clinical insanity. In the case of individuals such as Isaac, they can make sense of the 'noise' but will still develop afflictions such as dementia, paranoia, and auditory and visual hallucinations."

Again, she paused as the images were replaced by video files from the outbreak of the Necromorphs on both the Aegis VII Colony and inside the Planet Cracker herself. As the incredibly gruesome videos continued to play, she continued, "Ultimately, the goal of the intelligence behind the signal appears to be to manipulate a species to create multiple Marker copies under the guise of being a source of limitless energy to ensure that said species has no chance to survive when the Markers show their true nature."

The separate videos merged into one large one that showed an orbital view of the very brief Convergence Event that was triggered when I placed the Red Marker on its pedestal in the colony. Though the video quality was very grainy because the distance between the _Ishimura_ and the planet's surface made her have to use the maximum zoom range of her on-board cameras, the bright red beam that was seemingly being projected out of the Marker was still visible.

The holographic woman then explained, "After all native inhabitants of an area have been killed and transformed or a sufficient amount of organic material has been reached, the Marker will then enter its final phase, which is often referred to as a 'Convergence Event'. The true purpose of this phase is not currently known because it has never been allowed to finish. Isaac is among the few that have ever personally witnessed this phase and he is partially responsible for the destruction of the Aegis VII Marker and fully responsible for the destruction of the Titan Station Marker."

Jack was silent for a moment and then asked, "And…you said these things are in almost every major colony now because of EarthGov?"

I nodded and then replied, "They are aware of their nature but they are under the influence of that signal. It is only a matter of time before more outbreaks happen at this point."

By that time, Ellie had piloted the shuttle to the station and was presumably in the process of picking up our newest ally. While I would have rather scavenged the decommissioned output for resources and parts, _Ishimura_ was right and we could not afford to take any chances. EarthGov would not let us get away so easily if we were caught again. The former flagship of the CEC was built to take a beating and remain functional but we did not have the luxury of being able to return to an actual shipyard for proper repair if the Planet Cracker was badly damaged. The Church and EarthGov were on the brink of open armed conflict so all we had to do was wait and soon they would both be too distracted to spare many resources to hunt for us.

The former Recon Marine commented, "You know…EarthGov hasn't always been the only major political power."

I looked at him as I asked, "What do you mean?"

He explained, "As you know, EarthGov came into existence after major armed conflict and environmental disasters left most of Earth's governments unable to properly maintain order. For a while, things stabilized but, during the 24th Century, there was another major political power that fought against EarthGov but ultimately lost and surrendered."

I asked, "Wait…you're talking about the Sovereign Colonies right?" He nodded in response. Confused, I inquired, "What about them?"

Jack sighed and then explained, "Well, unless you plan on waltzing into wherever they have one of the Marker copies to learn more about them, you might want to go somewhere that no one is still around to kill or arrest you."

I asked, "They were involved with the Markers too?"

The armored soldier shrugged before he replied, "No idea but I do know that when they surrendered at the end of the conflict, they scuttled their fleet. However, allegedly, there were some major vessels that were unaccounted for when EarthGov officials did an inspection to confirm the complete destruction of the fleet. Of course, the official report denies it but it was always one of the campfire stories passed around in EDF. There may not be anything to it but, if you were in danger of losing a war and thought that some fancy rocks could be your salvation, you would probably send your best and brightest along with a fleet somewhere beyond the eyes of EarthGov to pull a rabbit out of a hat while the rest of your forces serve as a distraction."

I had never considered that there could be another source of Marker research besides EarthGov. Due to their manipulative nature, it was not inconceivable that another group had been trying to understand and harness them especially if they were in a losing conflict with EarthGov. It was better than nothing and even if we did not find any information about the Markers, despite its age, whatever equipment we found could be useful. A silver lining to the inhospitable environment of space was that abandoned equipment did not rot as it would have if it was on Earth. Even after being abandoned for two hundred years, whatever we found would be antiquated but not deteriorated to the point of being unusable.

After thinking for a moment, I nodded and then turned to look at _Ishimura_ 's A.I. before I inquired, "What do you know about the Sovereign Colonies?"

Before she could answer, from behind me, Ellie asked, "Sovereign Colonies?"

I turned to see my partner entering the room with Lexine close behind. The Aegis VII and Titan Station survivor was certainly worse for wear but seemed to be in higher spirits now that she was not trapped inside that station. I smiled slightly at her before I looked at Ellie and explained, "They might have been doing their own independent research on the Markers. If nothing else, we might find some useful supplies and equipment."

She seemed to briefly consider the idea before shrugging in agreement. Then she informed Lexine, "Oh, and this is my brother Jack." While the two exchanged greetings, I gave Ellie a subtle, questioning expression as I glanced at Lexine and then back at her. She gave me an unsure expression in response but then reassured me by shaking her head while smiling.

While I trusted Ellie's judgement, deep space was not a place to take chances. Lexine's immunity to the Marker Signal and the experience that she had gained surviving the Necromorph outbreaks on both Aegis VII and The Sprawl would make her a valuable ally. However, the fact of the matter was that she was pregnant and I was already feeling guilty for even asking her to join us in our fight against whatever it was that was the source of the signal and the Markers. If she needed medical attention, it was more than worth the risk to get her somewhere she could receive proper aid. We would have to keep a close eye on her just to be on the safe side.

I turned my attention back to _Ishimura_ 's A.I. and repeated, "What do you know about the Sovereign Colonies?"

She informed me, "It was formed in 2309 and was officially disbanded in 2314. However, most of what is known about the group comes from EarthGov sources and is highly suspect because of the need to keep sensitive information out of public record. Jack was correct when he said that the fleet that they possessed was scuttled upon surrendering to EarthGov at the end of the Secession War. Whether or not there were ships that were unaccounted for at the time of their surrender is unknown due to the absence of detailed information in public record. However, given the increase in deep space exploration during the two hundred years since then and the fact that no trace of these vessels has been found, the story is either false or they went further out into uncharted deep space than any human being had gone before or has gone since."

I asked, "So…is there anything left that we can try to investigate for information regarding the Markers?"

The holographic woman replied, "If there is, it would likely be somewhere in a restricted system in the outer regions."

Jack argued, "Whoa, those systems are restricted for a reason. You can't seriously be suggesting that we go looking through them."

Ellie taunted him, "What, is the big, bad marine scared?"

Before he could reply, _Ishimura_ laughed and then informed the former soldier, "CEC has been harvesting planets within restricted systems for decades without any major incident. The EDF rarely guard them because of how costly it is to maintain patrols so far away from any major port. Aegis VII was the first time that we had any problems."

She smiled calmly as she placed her right hand on her chest and then reassured him, "Don't worry, I was built to be able to operate in even the harshest conditions of deep space. If I cannot protect you from it, you will be dead before you ever feel anything."

Ellie's brother gave in and replied, "Fine."

I addressed her, "Alright, let's get started then."

The Planet Cracker's A.I. nodded and then began to maneuver her massive hull away from the now completely lifeless emergency station. As the mining vessel moved to get a safe distance away from the station, I turned to see that Ellie had walked closer to me. The physically fit, stubborn brunette glanced down at where I was still holding my Plasma Cutter in my right hand. Motioning towards it, she gave me a questioning look. I could only give her a meek smile as I shrugged in response. Ellie lowered her head while shaking it in disbelief for a moment before she then looked back up at me. Giving me a soft smile, she placed her right hand against the side of my left arm to remind me that I was not alone. I smiled to show my gratitude and she turned before beginning to make her way over to Lexine. Moments later, _Ishimura_ shocked out of the area.


End file.
